This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…
Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
561–570 of 1001 posts
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#562Earlier quoted context omitted.
Every. Single. Calendar. If you’re in Ontario, you’ll rarely see a paper calendar that isn’t SMTWTFS
Same in Quebec. Never heard anywhere in canada that don’t have their calendar start on Sunday but I’d be curious to find out otherwise.
Walk into a stationery store in British Columbia and you'll find both options.
Perhaps though that is due to the increasingly globalized world and stationery stores desire to have a lot of varied product from great product makers in Japan, USA and further afield.
I grew up aware that some people considered Sunday the start and others Monday, but didn't seem like there were any real firm rules about it where it mattered. I feel like I saw both being used. I always preferred using Monday as the start of the week.
Edit: Had a quick look at the Vancouver recycling calendar they sent me in the mail: Sunday first.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#563This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…
Nit: foone uses they/them pronouns and has previously expressed some displeasure with the way they get misgendered when their posts hit hacker news. Queer folks seem to agree that if you aren’t sure what someone’s pronouns are, they/them is a good default (only until they tell you or you find out the correct pronouns).
As a non-binary person myself I always find it interesting when people assume he/him for every random internet commenter. Happens on HN a lot.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#564Earlier quoted context omitted.
I'd love to hear the logic of why Monday should be the first day of the week.
What I find interesting is that many Americans consider themselves Christians and that will influence their decisions. So one argument can be made from that point of view (I'm not religious myself). In the Bible it says God designated the last day of the week as a day of rest. From a Christian point of view, it would make sense that Sunday is the last day of the week, as it is the official day of rest. Otherwise they…
Well, yeah, the Sabbath should be Saturday. That doesn't mean we can't have Sunday be the day we go to church.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#565Earlier quoted context omitted.
What I find interesting is that many Americans consider themselves Christians and that will influence their decisions. So one argument can be made from that point of view (I'm not religious myself). In the Bible it says God designated the last day of the week as a day of rest. From a Christian point of view, it would make sense that Sunday is the last day of the week, as it is the official day of rest. Otherwise they…
No, the biblical day of rest is the Sabbath, the Saturday. The fact that most Christians keep the first day of the week instead of the last day is because Jesus rose from death on the first day of the week.
Yet the word "Sabbath" refers to different things to different Christians.
Consider the old nursery rhyme, Monday's Child, which ends with
Friday's child is loving and giving / Saturday's child works hard for a living. / And the child born on the Sabbath day Is bonny and blithe, good and gay.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#566Earlier quoted context omitted.
February had 28 days before Julius Caesar came to power, so he and his successor couldn't have stolen a day from it.
Wait. The calendar was 10 months before Julius. Not sure there was even a February?
No, the calendar had 12 months + 1 intercalary month before the Julian reforms. The calendar you're thinking of was the one supposedly introduced by Romulus and replaced by his successor--there's no evidence of its actual use.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#567This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…
> - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week;
I assume Israel must too since shabbat, the seventh day of rest, is Saturday.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#568So, for comparison - in Poland we use - 24 hour clock - days of the week are called "after not working day", "second day", "middle day", "fourth day", "fifth day", "sabbath", "not working day" - months are mostly named from the agricultural/weather phenomena "wood cutting month", "strong cold month", "Mars month", "flowers month", "Mai month", "red pigment larvae month", "linden trees month", "sickle month", "heather…
So you have the day before "seventh day" be called "fifth day"?
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#569This is absolutely hilarious, and despite being long form, fits Twitter format very well, with each chunk funnier than the last :) A few notes: - Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week; - US (and maybe one or two English-speaking countries) are the only ones using 12h time, the rest of the world uses 24hrs, however 12h _sometimes_ is…
> Per my knowledge US is the only country which stubbornly (and illogically) considers Sunday to be the first day of the week /Officially/ almost everyone has standardized on ISO 8601 where Monday = 1 and Sunday = 7. But unofficially, not really. The week is still popularly understood to start on Sunday in English Canada, and probably some other parts of the English-speaking world. A quick check of Wikipedia suggests…
> A quick check of Wikipedia suggests Arabic, Portuguese and Vietnamese, all use number-based systems to name the days of the week, and they are indexed from Sunday = 1.
Vietnamese only numbers the days of the week from Monday to Saturday, with Monday = 2 and Saturday = 7. Sunday has its own name that isn't a number and is always put at the end of the week.
Re: Someday aliens will land and all will be fine until we explain our calendar
#570Earlier quoted context omitted.
But there are two ends of any line, one on each side. Not two ends, both of which are on the same side.
That only applies to things that are not obviously oriented. No one would try to argue that when they said "we'll do a recap at the end of meetings", what they meant is both the start and the end. This is not ambiguous at all and I don't even believe you believe in this argument.
Well I’d suggest the “obvious” orientation is actually the effect of what you believe the words to mean, not the cause.
This is what I was taught, I do indeed think it’s pretty silly, but it wouldn’t even be in the top 100 weirdest things about our language/culture/norms “space.” We’re surrounded by idiosyncrasies!