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. The most popular seem to be lighthearted, clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts: 1

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    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
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If you made it this far, showerthoughts is accepting new mods. This community is generally tame so its not a lot of work, but having a few more mods would help reports get addressed a little sooner.

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[–] Rentlar@lemmy.ca 6 points 11 months ago

My internal clock runs on a circle... So if I am guessing or saying roughly the time I will use "quarter to", "ten past", etc. If it's an exact time I will say it to the minute, 6:43 etc.

[–] Wrench@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago

Never saw the point. It doesn't save syllables, and people unaccustomed to it get confused

[–] PhlubbaDubba@lemm.ee 5 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I don't get why, it's not like they aren't learning fractions these days right?

[–] SparrowRanjitScaur@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago)

Because it's easier to use 5:15 or 5:30 when you get a digital readout. No one's counting every individual tick on an analog clock, so fractions make more sense in that case.

[–] Passerby6497@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago (2 children)

I still hear people talk about the top and bottom of the hour all the time.

[–] Hikermick@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I've never heard those phrases in person, only when spoken on TV or radio. Whereabouts you from?

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[–] Contramuffin@lemmy.world 5 points 11 months ago

I'm not sure. Anecdotal evidence, but when I was little, we learned how to read analog clocks, and all the "half past whatever" terminology. Actually, I think most of us in my class at that time primarily used analog clocks. Even then, we never used those sorts of phrases. We would just round to the nearest 5 minutes if anyone asked.

That's still what I do nowadays. Of course, there's phones and computers now that can tell you the time, but if I want a physical clock, I prefer to get an analog one. And I still just round to the nearest 5 minutes.

In my interpretation, those phrases fell out of favor a long time ago

[–] NegentropicBoy@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago (3 children)
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[–] Zozano@lemy.lol 4 points 11 months ago* (last edited 11 months ago) (5 children)

Since using AM and PM are essentially analogue standards, will people eventually stop saying "it's two o'clock" when they mean "the time is fourteen hundred"?

[–] A_Random_Idiot@lemmy.world 6 points 11 months ago (5 children)

i dont know if you are joking or not, but i have all my clocks unironically on 24 hour time.

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[–] denast@lemm.ee 4 points 11 months ago (1 children)

I think everybody puts too much emphasis on it being a strict generational thing while imo it's mostly a force of habit.

I'm on my early 20s, and used to take around 10 seconds to read an analog clock. Fully digital mind. Bought an analog wrist watch this summer and merely 1-2 months into wearing it I started understanding it instantaneously and all of "half past" type phrases click immediately now.

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[–] daddyjones@lemmy.world 4 points 11 months ago

I'm 46 and for as long as I can remember I've used "half past" and "quarter to" etc. Even during the years when I used a digital watch I transferred to do this now often than not. I'll use it with my Kuga as well and they understand and often do the same.

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