Why is it that Americans refer to 24 hour time as military time? I understand that the military uses the 24hr format but I don’t understand why the general public would refer to it like that?

It makes it seem like it’s a foreign concept where as in a lot of countries it’s the norm.

  • ArcaneSlime@lemmy.dbzer0.com
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    55
    arrow-down
    2
    ·
    1 year ago

    Its because in America most people’s only experience with it is when the movie says “meet here at 0700 hrs.” Really isn’t much deeper than that, we also call “ranger green” “ranger green” whether an army ranger is wearing it or not, despite it really being “just a shade of green.” Sometimes things are just called things.

    • silly goose meekah@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      If this was a case of things just being called things, it would be its own word. For example, a door is called a door because things are just called things. But military time is obviously a reference to something entirely different, that doesn’t actually have anything to do with time. So there’s more to it than just being called that.

      Ranger green is called like that, because it’s the shade of green rangers wear. And not “just because”. Same with military time. It’s called like that because people associate it with military, be it from seeing it in military movies, or by using it in the military themselves.

    • HamSwagwich
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      4
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      “Ranger Green” the hell is that?

      I’m an army veteran and I’ve never heard that term. Army Green, yes, but that’s pretty rare, too.

      What color even is “Ranger Green” other than OD?