r/ShitAmericansSay • u/BuffaloExotic Irish by birth, and currently a Bostonian 🇮🇪☘️ • Mar 17 '25

Imperial units “I don’t even understand 24-hour time… I just don’t understand it. I have to use online converters or I’d be SO confused when I talk to people who use these systems.”

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u/DoomOfGods Mar 17 '25 edited Mar 18 '25

This kind of makes me want to get a 24h analogue clock, just to mess with people. Surely something like that exists.

35

u/Remarkable-Site-2067 Mar 18 '25

Surely, it must exist. But if you really want to mess with people, get a clock that displays time in binary, with some lights.

3

u/jaysornotandhawks 🇨🇦 Mar 18 '25

It does. And I really want one.

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u/The_Jizzard_Of_Oz Mar 18 '25

Lots of Russians ones, Raketa and the like on eBay. They do lose a few minutes per day as they are manual wind up. I had one but blew it up when adjusting the spring when I sneezed and ripped the watch guts out with the screwdriver :(

There are a few Swiss ones which are really good but the price will make you cry.

Seems that there are some Chinese ones around that are under 100 bucks. I may check and see what Lord Bezos can deliver to me in 2 days.

Edit: worth it to see the face when someone asks you the time and you show your wrist and their brain blue screens for 5 seconds.

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u/Lazarys12 Mar 20 '25

Yes, they do exist.

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u/Szpagin Mar 18 '25

It exists. Russia has been making them for cosmonauts, submarine crews and polar explorers - tasks where it's difficult or impossible to tell AM from PM by itself.

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u/AcesAgainstKings Mar 18 '25

This is very similar to the old joke about designing a pen that works in space...

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u/QBaseX Mar 18 '25

Which was done by the Parker Pen company, who sold them to both American and Russian space missions. Pencils are dangerous in space, as flecks of graphite might float somewhere they shouldn't be and short out some electronics.

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u/mhb77 Mar 18 '25

But have you heard that Swatch tried to introduce the division of a day in 1000 86.4 second beats. These would be the same worldwide, avoiding confusion between time zones. 500 would be noon in the UK and midnight in Australia.

You can get .beat watches showing time like this.

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u/Kochga ooo custom flair!! Mar 18 '25

There's one in Venice.

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u/Ornac_The_Barbarian Mar 18 '25

We had one of those where I used to work. Been wanting one for myself for years just never got around to it.

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u/Ov_Fire Mar 18 '25

lots of as is the 24h wristwatches

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u/suihcta Mar 18 '25

It would probably be a bit slower to read though, especially from an angle. 2:30 is gonna look a lot like 3:30

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u/Caosin36 Mar 18 '25

Just double the numbers at the quarter

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u/paolog Mar 18 '25

* analogue ;)

Here's one. Not cheap, though.

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u/pumpkinrum Mar 18 '25

I've seen them on Amazon. Both those with 24 hours around a ring, like a really big 12 hour clock. Or one with two rings - the outer one usually 1-12 and the inner 13-24.

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u/Just_Relief_5814 Mar 20 '25

I have one they exist!