# Have you noticed that younger people seem slower to tell time from "traditional" clock faces? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 29, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391 "2025-10-29T15:25:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Ancient\_Nerd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ed655f/32.png) [@Ancient\_Nerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ancient_Nerd)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2025, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/81 "2025-10-31T19:58:53Z")
> [@dougrb](#): > > Slightly off topic. Anyone else keep a phone # list on a piece of paper in your wallet/purse just in case you don’t have access to your digital repository? It’s come in handy a few times in my experience. I have a collection of business cards in my wallet. ---
**Author:** ![Dereknocue67](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6de8d8/32.png) [@Dereknocue67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dereknocue67)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2025, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/82 "2025-11-02T08:16:19Z")
What are we going to substitute for ‘clockwise’ and ‘counterclockwise’? Righty and lefty? ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2025, 8:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/83 "2025-11-02T08:22:43Z")
Isn’t it obvious? Deasil and Widdershins of course. ---
**Author:** ![Fretful\_Porpentine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fretful_porpentine/32/2873_2.png) [@Fretful\_Porpentine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fretful_Porpentine)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/84 "2025-11-03T00:52:56Z")
I’m a Gen-Xer who grew up with plenty of analog clocks, and I would say that it doesn’t take me longer to _know_ the time from an analog clock, but it does take me longer to _tell_ the time, in the sense of being able to tell someone else. Like, if I’m looking at a digital clock that says 6:49, I hear the words “six-forty-nine” in my head and can say them immediately, but if I’m looking at an analog clock, I know what time it is, but I can’t hear any words in my head and I have to take a second to translate the visual representation into language. ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/85 "2025-11-03T15:34:54Z")
Young people are ignorant and increasingly so. What else is new? I have the misfortune of knowing people born after 2000 who don’t know what a quarter pound is or what .75 means. I also know people born in the 1990s that don’t know what the word “hypothetical” means. ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/86 "2025-11-03T15:35:30Z")
> [@Cmyers1980](#): > > or what .75 mans. But can they spell? ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/87 "2025-11-03T22:05:56Z")
> [@Fretful\_Porpentine](#): > > I would say that it doesn’t take me longer to _know_ the time from an analog clock, but it does take me longer to _tell_ the time, in the sense of being able to tell someone else. Like, if I’m looking at a digital clock that says 6:49, I hear the words “six-forty-nine” in my head and can say them immediately, but if I’m looking at an analog clock, I know what time it is, but I can’t hear any words in my head and I have to take a second to translate the visual representation into language. Yeah, I grew up with analog clocks, and i can read off the time faster with a digital clock, too. But for me, it takes me longer to know what that means if I start with a digital clock. I almost always do better with pictures than with words, though. ---
**Author:** ![Cmyers1980](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cmyers1980/32/11814_2.png) [@Cmyers1980](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cmyers1980)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2025, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/88 "2025-11-03T23:04:15Z")
It’s spelled correctly on my end. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/89 "2025-11-04T02:19:59Z")
With the long edit windows on Discourse, there’s lots of ways for the Quickdraw McPedants to jump on a typo in a v1.0 post and by the time they’ve typed up their complaint and submitted it, the post has been edited to hide the goof. As a frequent Qd McP myself, I’ve had to “nevermind” a bunch of posts over that. ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 2:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/90 "2025-11-04T02:53:55Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Quickdraw McPedants These things? [![](https://smilemakersonline.com/content/images/thumbs/0010249_gold-plated-arches-necklace_600.jpeg) ](https://smilemakersonline.com/content/images/thumbs/0010249_gold-plated-arches-necklace_600.jpeg) ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/91 "2025-11-04T11:15:13Z")
Pedants, Emily. _Pedants_. Not Pendants. Oooooohhhhh, Neeeeevvvvveeeeerrrrrr MMMMMiiiinnnnnnddddd! 😉 But yeah, good one. Although I find the idea of McDonald’s themed jewelry, even cheap stuff, to be a little unnerving. ---
**Author:** ![Spoons](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spoons/32/3141_2.png) [@Spoons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoons)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 11:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/92 "2025-11-04T11:35:13Z")
I learned a dial clock when I was a kid. When I was a radio host, I had to _really_ learn how to read a dial clock. That was all we had in the studio. “Well it’s 5:44 here, that’s 16 minutes to the top of the hour when …” “It’s 2:03 in the morning, and our lines are open. Call [number redacted] for a request, or just to chat.” “Seven minutes until we’re done here, so that means I can still squeeze in …” I guess that skill is outmoded now, but I still use a dial wristwatch, which is demarcated in minutes. When my friends ask me for the time, they’re no longer stymied by, “Six minutes until the top of the hour.” ---
**Author:** ![CaveMike](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cavemike/32/16379_2.png) [@CaveMike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CaveMike)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/93 "2025-11-04T13:23:15Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Although I find the idea of McDonald’s themed jewelry, even cheap stuff, to be a little unnerving. Grimace needs his bling. * * * But yeah, whenever I read pedantic I always ‘hear’ pendantic and have to correct myself. This led me to wondering about McDonald’s themed jewelry… ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/94 "2025-11-04T14:55:27Z")
> [@doreen](#): > > I’ve used a rotary phone and I don’t think my thirty-something kids have ever seen one but I don’t think any of us have ever used the phrase “dialing a phone” or anything similar. Not addressing you specifically, but a number of other posters have also said they never use the word “dialing”, so I pose the question: what does your cell phone display when you tap a contact to place a call? Mine says “Dialing …” . I think it’s perfectly reasonable to refer to the act of initiating a phone call as “dialing” even if there’s no dial. That’s just how language works. It’s like we refer to cell phones as “phones” when they’re really multi-function communication devices and pocket computers, and there are probably young’uns around who have never actually spoken on their “phone”. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/95 "2025-11-04T15:09:13Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > > [@LSLGuy](#): > > > > I do as much as possible on a big screen w real keyboard. > > That might be because of your age. You are probably a little far sighted and didn’t grow up fluent on a phone’s keyboard. I’m like @LSLGuy , and I’m near-sighted without my glasses, which I never wear when doing anything with a phone, tablet, or real computer. I find it very onerous to peck away on a virtual keyboard on my tablet which is much bigger than a typical phone. How people regularly post here from their phones is baffling to me. I do note however that “phone posters” tend to make a disproportionate number of typos! ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/96 "2025-11-04T15:12:14Z")
I don’t think I ever consciously associated “dialing” with rotary phones, though that makes sense. Instead it reminds me of the `atdt` command for old modems that makes them play the phone dialtones before all the beep beep dee de dum brrrzwaaaaah sounds. But if dial = spinning the rotary dial, that makes sense… ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/97 "2025-11-04T15:17:33Z")
95% of all my posting here is on my phone. Even when i have my laptop open for other stuff, i often post here on my phone. Yes, i make a lot of swypos, but swyping is really fast and easy. Fwiw, i found the keyboard of my iPad nearly unusable. It was too small to touch type, and too large to use a single finger quickly. It’s why i basically never used the iPad. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/98 "2025-11-04T15:21:55Z")
In the 90s, a suicide prevention hotline in my area ran ads with an image of an index finger hovering over a telephone keypad and the slogan “Feeling pressed by life? Press LifeNet.” The use of “press” always struck me as weirdly strained. ---
**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:** [November 4, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/99 "2025-11-04T15:24:18Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > 95% of all my posting here is on my phone. Side question: Do you also get that weird issue where the title “Miscellaneous Personal Stuff I Must Share” below some related threads is too long and causes the phone to have horizontal scrolling when it normally doesn’t? (If you use the phone in portrait orientation) ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [November 4, 2025, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391/100 "2025-11-04T15:25:27Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > Not addressing you specifically, but a number of other posters have also said they never use the word “dialing”, so I pose the question: what does your cell phone display when you tap a contact to place a call? Mine says “Dialing …” I wasn’t sure - so I just made a call and mine says “Calling”. There’s nothing wrong with using “dialing” to mean making a call - it’s just that I don’t and my kids don’t and I wouldn’t really know whether anyone else I know uses “dialing” ( except my 85 year old mother, who absolutely does) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-noticed-that-younger-people-seem-slower-to-tell-time-from-traditional-clock-faces/1024391.md?page=6)