Referring to time
 

Hi again...

So it's 7 days until the journey to London, and I had yet another inquiry. I know that the British use the 24:00 clock, but when actually referring to the time verbally, do I say, for example, "Do you have a table for two at nineteen o'clock?" or would I say "7 o'clock pm?" Thanks!

Hi ddenaro1214,

Just say "7 p.m." Although we use the 24 hour clock for timetables etc., we don't use it in conversation.

Jim

Great, thanks Jim!

If you were in a situation where you had to use the 24 hour clock, you'd say "Do you have a table at nineteen-hundred (or nineteen-hundred hours)," but as Jim says, I don't know of any place that actually uses this in conversation other than the military.

Yet I believe on the continent, they do use it. I recently tried to make a reservation at a restaurant in Paris for 8 PM and I used the term "vingt herues" (I didn't know how to say PM en francais) and they understood.

I have found many folks in Britain very resistant to some of the things being foised on them because of the EU; I wonder if this is one of them.

Britain has managed to retain miles, feet and inches (I don't know for how long), most British folks I speak to still think of temperatures in terms of the Farenheit scale (Evening Standard last August...many caught in 100 degree hell on the tube...not 40 degree hell as it should be in Celsius).

I read an article about 2 years ago how resistant some were to being forced to buy goods in grams or liters rather than ounces or quarts.

However, I admit I haven't heard anybody refer to something costing 10p as 2 shillings in almost 33 years.

Of course, everybody still knows what it means to order a pint of bitter; somehow I think that will be around for a while.

Well, yes, the French say their hours in 24 hour mode. However, if you are speaking English to them, just say "8 AM or PM", and there will be no problem.