Sunday, April 15, 2007
Time
I've recently noticed something odd about looking at time - especially in these days of digital readouts. No one thinks it's odd if you ask to meet someplace at eight in the morning, or have lunch at one-thirty. But try asking someone to meet you at twelve oh three, or have lunch at one-eleven. You will almost always get a strange look. I, for example, almost always set my digital alarm for something 12:34 or 7:57.
But if you think about it, what's the difference? One-eleven isn't any more or less accurate than saying one. If you tell someone to meet you at noon, you are telling them to meet you exactly as 12:00 - no later or earlier. So noon is just as picky as saying twelve oh three, except it's three minutes earlier.
So I wonder. Are terms like quarter to twelve and half-past eight going away? How about clockwise and counter-clockwise? I think as long as there are loose screws around, clockwise will still be around.
