15:30

All my digital clocks and watches are set to 24 hour time. However, most of the people I interact with (Americans) are only fluent in the 12 hour dialect.

As a result, if someone asks me the time, I will look a clock at clock that says 15:30 and without thinking I say “three thirty.”

In Italy, people will say “fifteen thirty” and I just get confused. I do the translation naturally but it only works one way.


Originally posted as a diary entry on Kuro5hin. Although Kuro5hin is now defunct, an archived copy of the post includes a series of comments from the Kuro5hin community.