# Do you prefer to use 24 hour time? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 9, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274 "2020-06-09T00:21:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/1 "2020-06-09T00:21:35Z")
Poll to follow. I’m an absolute yes. ---
**Author:** ![Jackmannii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackmannii/32/311_2.png) [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/2 "2020-06-09T00:26:41Z")
It’s partly a hangover from working in radio where you were supposed to log times that way and partly for greater precision, but yeah, I prefer to post at 1800 instead of 6 o’clock. ---
**Author:** ![installLSC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/54ee81/32.png) [@installLSC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/installLSC)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/3 "2020-06-09T00:32:12Z")
I use at the lab I work at because it’s open 24 hours, but nowhere else. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21825_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/4 "2020-06-09T00:41:32Z")
I learned 24 hours time when I enlisted in '73. It’s great! ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/5 "2020-06-09T00:50:22Z")
yep. I set everything I can to a 24 hour clock. edit: it actually annoys me when a device won’t let me set it to 24-hour time. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/6 "2020-06-09T00:54:14Z")
I want to complain that my answer wasn’t included in the options— Hell no. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/7 "2020-06-09T00:58:26Z")
I got used to it living abroad, so that’s what I’ve used for the last twenty plus years. I often forget I have all my stuff set to 24 hr time, so when somebody looks at my phone and sees the time in 24hr format, I usually get the question if I was military. No. Nothing about me looks military. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/8 "2020-06-09T01:00:11Z")
I also like the fact that it can disambiguate what day midnight belongs to. With 12 hour time, people are always confused about this. With 0:00 it’s the start of the day. With 24:00 (often seen on bus and train schedules) it belongs to the end of the day. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/9 "2020-06-09T01:10:13Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I also like the fact that it can disambiguate what day midnight belongs to. With 12 hour time, people are always confused about this. With 0:00 it’s the start of the day. With 24:00 (often seen on bus and train schedules) it belongs to the end of the day. To me, midnight is always the end of the day, never the beginning. That’s also Associated Press style. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/10 "2020-06-09T01:56:21Z")
Seems enormously simple and logical to me. ---
**Author:** ![purplehorseshoe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/purplehorseshoe/32/2996_2.png) [@purplehorseshoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/purplehorseshoe)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/11 "2020-06-09T02:58:45Z")
It’s logical, but I don’t have a “feel” for it. Like, okay, 7 p.m. has a certain … set of mental associations. Typical light quality, dinnertime, work is long done for office types. That sort of thing. I don’t automatically have that for 19 o’clock and also I have to do the math on my fingers _yes EVERY time_ it feels like translating out of a language I only speak a little, badly. ---
**Author:** ![jtur88](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e9c0ed/32.png) [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/12 "2020-06-09T03:13:00Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > I also like the fact that it can disambiguate what day midnight belongs to. With 12 hour time, people are always confused about this. With 0:00 it’s the start of the day. With 24:00 (often seen on bus and train schedules) it belongs to the end of the day. Insurance companies disambiguate by expiring coverage at 12:01 AM. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/13 "2020-06-09T03:46:24Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > To me, midnight is always the end of the day, never the beginning. That’s also Associated Press style. See, to me, midnight means the start of the next day. Odd, as I grew up with Associated Press Style, but I guess it never came up in anything I edited. The Chicago Manual of Style, which I now prefer for general use, disambiguates by saying “midnight, June 8-9.” ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/14 "2020-06-09T04:06:10Z")
I had to answer No because I do not prefer 24 hour time. My preference is for 86,400 second time. ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/15 "2020-06-09T04:08:06Z")
I deal in time. It’s much more complicated than people realize\*, so anything that can make it less ambiguous is a good thing. But, most people don’t “get” 24-hour time, so I’m forced to use 12-hour time and deal with the confusion it causes. \*For example - not all days have 24 hours. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 4:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/16 "2020-06-09T04:21:31Z")
I voted for complicated. I don’t care. I use 24 hour time at work. I use civilian time the rest of my time. 24 hour time has been second nature to me since I joined the Army over 30 years ago. One way or the other it doesn’t really matter to me. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/17 "2020-06-09T05:43:49Z")
Definite preference for 2400 here. I’m another military person, Marine Corps. In Europe it is quite common. Stores post their hours on their doors: open 0800-1800. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/18 "2020-06-09T05:45:08Z")
> [@purplehorseshoe](#): > > It’s logical, but I don’t have a “feel” for it. Like, okay, 7 p.m. has a certain … set of mental associations. Typical light quality, dinnertime, work is long done for office types. That sort of thing. > > I don’t automatically have that **for 19 o’clock** and also I have to do the math on my fingers _yes EVERY time_ it feels like translating out of a language I only speak a little, badly. (Bolding mine) It’s 19 hundred, or 1900, not 19 o’clock. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 6:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/19 "2020-06-09T06:14:00Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > (Bolding mine) It’s 19 hundred, or 1900, not 19 o’clock. Unless you have a [24-hour clock](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/61/Greenwich_clock_1-manipulated.jpg). ---
**Author:** ![Die\_Capacitrix](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/die_capacitrix/32/9_2.png) [@Die\_Capacitrix](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Die_Capacitrix)\ **Post date:** [June 9, 2020, 6:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274/20 "2020-06-09T06:49:52Z")
Definitely prefer 24 hour time. On an almost daily basis I’m tracking 4 time zones besides my own (are they still in the office / have they come in yet), and 24 hour time makes it easier. But if I’m meeting someone for dinner, we never say 18:30. We say 6:30. Or half seven, just to be more confusing. Or half past six. Darn mixed cultures. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-prefer-to-use-24-hour-time/855274.md?page=2)