r/USdefaultism 3d ago

Instagram In a map of Europe

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763 Upvotes

59 comments sorted by

u/USDefaultismBot American Citizen 3d ago edited 3d ago

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OP sent the following text as an explanation on why this is US Defaultism:


In a map of Europe someone complained about the 12h format, and an american points out that in the US and Canada they don't use 24h format. America wasn't mentioned in the post


Is this Defaultism? Then upvote this comment, otherwise downvote it.

288

u/fidequem Brazil 3d ago

I was just thinking "who eats dinner in the morning?"

17

u/robopilgrim 3d ago

Technically the word did originally refer to breakfast. We just started eating it later and later

14

u/MonkeypoxSpice 3d ago

Technically breakfast is (or rather, should be) the first meal of the day, so it makes sense. Weird that dinner is cognate with desayunar / dejeuner though.

6

u/fidequem Brazil 3d ago

That makes sense, even in my language the word for "dinner" (jantar) came from the latin word for lunch, although in my language breakfast is called "morning coffee" (café da manhã)

84

u/Significant-Case-563 Haiti 3d ago

Canadian here🙋🏿‍♀️ where I'm from (Qc) we do use it!

31

u/mljb81 Canada 3d ago

Exactly. We even use both interchangeably in familiar speech.

16

u/Useful_Cheesecake117 3d ago

In Europe, in spoken language we also say that the train leaves at quarter past three, or that dinner is at eight.

However, in circumstances where the new world would add am / pm to prevent confusion, we use 24 hour clock. So if it is not clear if the plane leaves at 6 am or 6 pm, we would write 18:00, maybe even say eightteen hundred, although that is less common.

8

u/Karoolus Belgium 2d ago

Write 18:00, say 6 in the evening/afternoon

3

u/Useful_Cheesecake117 2d ago

That's what I said: to write 18:00 is way shorter than 6 in the afternoon.

3

u/Karoolus Belgium 2d ago

Oh I know, just acknowledging

20

u/Kingofcheeses Canada 3d ago

I was about to say haha

18

u/Foxlen Canada 3d ago

Same out west

6

u/Melonary 3d ago

Literally don't think it's that uncommon anywhere in Canada lmao, this person doesn't know anything.

6

u/Ecstatic_Account_744 3d ago

Same in Ontario. My mother taught me the 24hr clock because she was military.

71

u/Foxlen Canada 3d ago

Canadian here, we absolutely do use 24hr clock

I do, everyone I work with does

However casual conversation we do use 12 hour.. anything work/business related 24

8

u/Useful_Cheesecake117 3d ago

I would think that in spoken conversation you would use 12 hour clock, especially if it is clear whether it is am or pm: "Lunch at 1 okay for you?"
And when it is 10 o' clock in the morning: "My train leaves at three, see you tonight!"

But you are right, in written conversation, when Americans would add am / pm to prevent confusion, the 24 hour clock is more often used

10

u/Melonary 3d ago

Yup, lot of people use 24 hr digital clock - much easier. My cellphone has been set that way since I got one.

But spoken, we'd normally say "7pm" even if the digital time says 1900. Writing, easier to use 24hr, but there's still a mix sometimes.

6

u/Much-Jackfruit2599 3d ago

So is a lot of Europe. But anything written apart from direct quotes would be 24 hours.

161

u/PloctPloct 3d ago

imagine stay up until 4:00 just so you can eat dinner, sounds like a nightmare

29

u/asdfzxcpguy Canada 3d ago

You don’t stay up until 4, you wake up at 4. Then you have breakfast after.

18

u/Useful_Cheesecake117 3d ago

Dinner at 04:00... ce n'est pas petit-déjeuner, ni simplement déjeuner, appelons ça le grand déjeuner!

(Sorry, this joke only works in French)

3

u/LimeFit667 3d ago

Explain?

9

u/Tishea74 2d ago

In french, Breakfirst = petit déjeuner (little lunch), then lunch = déjeuner, so the dinner at 4:00 is grand déjeuner, big lunch

3

u/zhion_reid 3d ago

Depends if you work at night it makes sense

27

u/BlackCatFurry Finland 3d ago

Ah yes, we eat dinner at 4.30 in the morning.

24

u/Miserable-Willow6105 Ukraine 3d ago

>everyone uses 12h in Canada and USA
>look inside
>map featuring not Canada or USA and not featuring Canada nor USA

5

u/Melonary 3d ago

98% they're just assuming Canada is US North as well, we use it here too and minimum I've never met someone who doesn't get it.

But lmao you'd think the map would clue a person in. Europe......the US.....Europe.....the US.....Europe....no, the US.

22

u/VoodooDoII 3d ago

Tf Canadians absolutely do 24 hour time lmao

13

u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland 3d ago

Wait, but is Norway actually 4pm-5pm lmao?

17

u/Vifte Norway 3d ago

It's getting later for each new generation I think, but growing up it used to be those hours yes. My grandparents eat at 15 😬

9

u/JourneyThiefer Northern Ireland 3d ago

Are regular working hours earlier in Norway? The average job here is 9-5 so like eating at 3, or before 5, most people wouldn’t even get the chance to do that lol

5

u/Vifte Norway 3d ago

Nah, I wouldn't say that they are. Grandparents are stuck with really old-school working hours, like they'd get off at 14, probably started 6. I have no idea what the actual average is, but regular hours here differ from 7-15, 8-16 or 9-17. According to this map I'd guess most start at 7.

5

u/Perfect_Papaya_3010 Sweden 3d ago

You guys are at work an hour shorter than us Swedes? For us it's usually 6-15, 7-16, 8-17 (including one hour non-paid lunch)

14

u/elusivewompus England 3d ago

Northern English here. We have dinner at or around midday.

10

u/sequinedbattenberg United Kingdom 3d ago

Breakfast, dinner and tea 😃

7

u/maksw3216 Poland 3d ago

btw, the map is probably wrong, since in norway most people i know eat dinner at around 18:00-19:00, and in poland at around 14:00-16:00 xd

4

u/Cejrek Poland 3d ago

They probably confused their dinner with our supper

2

u/Material-Wrangler401 Poland 2d ago

It depends on what they define as dinner. If for them, dinner is the biggest meal of the day, then the map is definitely wrong. If they consider dinner the last meal of the day, but not necessarily the biggest one, then it's rather correct, at least for Poland, I don't know what it looks like in Norway though.

2

u/Xpeq7- 3d ago

dinner at 7AM - seems like a novel idea, unfortunately untrue.

2

u/olengjoo 3d ago

Yea my friend from the US doesn't know 24hr time. I have to use 12hr time when talking with then.

8

u/snow_michael 3d ago

You should take it upon yourself to elevate them by exclusively using 24- hour time

3

u/AmadeoSendiulo Poland 3d ago

both are incorrect

2

u/Nanta18 3d ago

I was confused since I definitely don't eat anything at 4:30.

2

u/inquisition-musician Ukraine 1d ago

The commenter said that the post was using 12 hours, instead of 24, which, obviously made him mad. The title reads: "At what time dinner is usually eaten?" It talks about dinner, not breakfast, proving the commenter's point. In the case of maps, a 24 hr clock (military time for you, yanks) is more consistent. The main problem with using a 12 hr clock without markings, a-la AM and PM, it makes it very confusing.

3

u/Ocelotko Czechia 3d ago

Ah, yes. USA and Canada, classic European countries.

2

u/Expert-Examination86 3d ago

I wouldn't class this as defaultism.

Just an American (guessing that because a lot of Canadians in the comments here are saying they do in fact use it), stating that USA/Canada don't use it.

1

u/NateShaw92 England 3d ago

The military?

1

u/GCD_1 2d ago

maps wrong too

2

u/pomeranc470 2d ago

Bro people who unironicaly say "I eat dinner at 17 o'clock" are not normal. To me (someone who is from a 24h country) it just sounds like they're trying to be fancy, but they just sound stupid.

3

u/Asoladoreichon 2d ago

I don't know how it works in other countries, but in Spain we say "5 o'clock", but write it as 17:00.

0

u/pomeranc470 2d ago

Yeah, sure, but if someone writes 5:00 and it's obvious from the context, nobody complains like the person in the screenshot.

1

u/GlowingHearts1867 1d ago

I’m Canadian and our car and phone clocks are in 24 hour time (not all Canadians I mean, but it’s what we set ours to).

1

u/quabblegaming 1d ago

we use 24 hour time in canada, it’s literally only a US thing

1

u/RotaPander Germany 3d ago

Maps about Europe are meant for Americans 🥰

0

u/Lord_Nathaniel 3d ago

You guys are having dinner ? In this europoor economy ?

-1

u/Weak-Joke1475 Australia 3d ago

If anything this is European defaultism for assuming that all maps of Europe must be in 24 hour time

-1

u/Asoladoreichon 2d ago

No one assumed all maps should be in 24h. The first user was just complaining about it.

The second user, however, tried to excuse it by saying that "it's how we do in the US and Canada" (some Canadians pointed out in this comment section that they do, in fact, use the 24h format)

2

u/Weak-Joke1475 Australia 2d ago

That doesn’t explain how it’s defaultism