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Moguwai007 Posted 12 years ago
Grammar

military time

Dear American teachers,
Could you please tell me if people other than military personnel or police use military time in daily conversation?
I also wonder if regular people in the US can understand it easily without calculating. I want to know that for better communication.
  

Top answer

I don't know of anyone who uses it in regular conversation, but most people can easily understand it. Do they have to calculate? Maybe for a moment, as in "um, 1735 - 17 minus 12 is 5, okay 5:35 pm" but that's an internal dialogue and takes a split second.

— BarbaraPA

  • I don't know of anyone who uses it in regular conversation, but most people can easily understand it.
  • Do they have to calculate?
  • Maybe for a moment, as in "um, 1735 - 17 minus 12 is 5, okay 5:35 pm" but that's an internal dialogue and takes a split second.
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7 Answers
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I don't know of anyone who uses it in regular conversation, but most people can easily understand it.

Do they have to calculate? Maybe for a moment, as in "um, 1735 - 17 minus 12 is 5, okay 5:35 pm" but that's an internal dialogue and takes a split second.
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As a Canadian, my answer to both queries is 'no'.

Clive
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moguwai007Could you please tell me if people other than military personnel or police use military time in daily conversation?
I'm not in the military or in the police force, so I never it. I suppose I could get used to it if I had to, but as it is, I have to do some mental gymnastics to understand anything above 12 o'clock.
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BarbaraPAthat's an internal dialogue and takes a split second.
Split second? Speak for yourself. I'm still reeling from that 17:35 example.
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What's exact midnight in military time, Barb?Emotion: geeked
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moguwai007Could you please tell me if people other than military personnel or police use military time in daily conversation?
No one I deal with in the US uses it.
When I lived in Europe, it was very common. Most people used it and understood it.
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CliveWhat's exact midnight in military time, Barb?
Zero hundred.

(Apparently some people say "twenty-four hundred.")

And "too darn early in the morning" is "oh-dark-thirty."
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