this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2024
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. A showerthought should offer a unique perspective on an ordinary part of life.

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I hear phrases like "half-past", "quarter til", and "quarter after" way less often since digital clocks have became more commonplace. (midwest.social)
submitted 8 months ago by GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 23 points 8 months ago (3 children)

It is a one syllable difference, at most. Fif-teen versus Quar-ter-Past. Or Thir-ty versus Half-past. And for-ty-five versus quar-ter-till.

But it is also about precision. If I say "Let's meet up at 4:45" that implies a lot more specificity than "let's meet at quarter to five". The firmer is an exact time people should meet at and the latter is "around that time".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeopkvAP-ag goes into the difference between analog and digital time and what that means with thought processes. But a lot of it boils down to thinking in terms of "parts of a whole" versus "specific times".

[–] joel_feila@lemmy.world 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

I'm curious why it got the name digital time.

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 2 points 8 months ago

Because it is expressed as digits (numbers)

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 8 months ago (1 children)

it's not like people generally pronounce it fully anyways, it'll come out as "qua'tr" or "quartah" depending on dialect

[–] NuXCOM_90Percent@lemmy.zip 3 points 8 months ago

All of which is still two syllables?

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