I noticed that I and Alexa say “six ‘oh’ five a m”, but is that the correct way of saying the time? Specifically the “oh” part?
Kind of like when speaking out a phone number, how we might say “my number is one two three, six ‘oh’ six…” but really, that’s not an “oh” like the letter O even though it looks like an O, but everyone knows the person is saying “six zero six”, which is the proper way of saying that.
Edit: thanks for all the answers everyone! This was just pure curiosity for me but I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses and learning some new things!
The correct spoken way is to say 5 past 6.
I don’t really see a reason for including the zero unless it also says all the digits at other times. Like 6:45 would be six-four-five, which makes very little sense when spoken. If it’s capable of saying six-fourtyfive, it should also just say six-five for 6:05. But again, in the case of 6:45 the proper spoken way would be “(a) quarter to seven”
It seems like a lazy solution just to say the digits.
It doesn’t have to be difficult to do right. The code should just include a small table with the correct words.
Probably should take into account people with learning disabilities and processing disorders. six-oh-five is straight forward for anyone, five past six and five til six are commonly used but can trip up some people more than you’d expect.
edit: the “quarter” variations are also problematic for some without taking a few beats longer to get it right because of the tendency to think of it as 25 instead of 15.
As an option, definitely. As a default though I too would prefer the standard spoken form if the time is going to be spoken rather than displayed. It’s a bit like how simplified wikipedia is a good idea but I prefer regular English to be the default version.