# Alarm clock as good as an alarm clock app?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 29, 2014, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242 "2014-04-29T02:01:43Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 6:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242/21 "2014-04-30T18:49:50Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> ‘[Go](http://www.thefreedictionary.com/go+off)’ is one of the most multi-purpose words in the English language.
> 
> I suggest in this case, it’s related to the sense in which the commencement of an activity is sometimes described as ‘off’ (i.e. “we \*set off \*on a journey” or “_they’re off!_” at the beginning of a race).

I thought it goes off like a gun or firecracker or like someone going off on a tirade?

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**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242/22 "2014-04-30T21:20:11Z")

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> [@Reply](#):
>
> I thought it goes off like a gun or firecracker or like someone going off on a tirade?

I think that’s probably the same sense of the word. I mean guns don’t literally go _‘off’_ - they go bang.

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**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\
**Post date:** [April 30, 2014, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242/23 "2014-04-30T21:30:53Z")

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> [@Reply](#):
>
> I thought it goes off like a gun or firecracker or like someone going off on a tirade?

Indeed, quite like explosives going off.

And rather less like mayonnaise going off. :eek:

Back on topic, the idea of repurposing an old-but-still functional smartphone or a el-cheapo tablet as an alarm clock seems like a viable approach. I would do just such a thing, except my three-year-old keeps finding my old phone and taking it away to be her personal Youtube tablet. (Until the battery runs flat, after which she buries it in one of the random piles of toys scattered strategically around the house.)

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**Author:** ![needscoffee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/needscoffee/32/1076_2.png) [@needscoffee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/needscoffee)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242/24 "2014-05-01T05:50:00Z")

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> [@Mangetout](#):
>
> I would just buy three alarm clocks, set them to different alarm times and label them for the days to which they apply.

And then remember to turn each one on or off depending on what day it is? Big hassle.

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**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\
**Post date:** [May 1, 2014, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/alarm-clock-as-good-as-an-alarm-clock-app/687242/25 "2014-05-01T13:59:45Z")

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get a kitchen timer with 3 or 4 countdown alarms. set first for sleep time, set second for sleep time plus 10 minutes, set third for sleep time plus 20 minutes, set fourth for sleep time plus 30 minutes.

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