What is the origin/reason that when reading 24-hour time you say “hours” (e.g. “zero eight hundred hours”) when it’s actually hours and minutes
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[https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4sbo59/eli5_why_is_military_time_o_eighthundred_hours/](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/4sbo59/eli5_why_is_military_time_o_eighthundred_hours/)
this has good answers. It is an abbreviation that is simple to hear/interpret and it is less likely to be misunderstood when writing or reading.
Isn’t that format more US military time than general 24hr format? So, more of a military convention which probably means for clarity during times when communication is challenging.
I’m British. Apparently using 24hr clock is far more common in general use here (recently learned). It’s usually for written times though and people will most often automatically translate when saying allowed:
22:45 gets ready either as “quarter to eleven” or “ten forty five” (the latter being more likely with younger people).
If read in 24 hr format it rare to hear “hours” added in normal usage.
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