Speech pattern and typographical variations across Canada

[Acajack]

Originally Posted by rousseau

This isn't to do with metric at all, but I feel an instinctive resistance to the use of the 24-hour military clock in Quebec to tell the time, e.g. "seize heures" for 4 pm, etc. I wonder, would people in Quebec really not understand you if you said you wanted to meet at "9 o'clock this evening"? Or would that be so unconventional that your Quebec friend, were he or she on a phone to a third friend in your presence, convert what you said to "vingt et une heures"?

I have to do the math in my head and subtract 12 when I hear the time in Quebec, as "20 hundred hours" doesn't register for me right away. I was never a soldier, I guess.

We actually tend to use the 24 hour clock when writing things down and switch automatically to the 12 hours when speaking. ''9 heures du soir'' is very common in informal speech, though you hear ''21 heures'' as well.