英语语法：41 Daylight-Saving Time

Grammar Girl here.

Many parts of the world are moving from daylight-saving time (also called summer time) to standard time this week, so I thought it would be a good time to talk about the phrase “daylight-saving time” and time in general.

Most usage guides recommend using a hyphen, so the phrase is daylight[hyphen]saving time with no capital letters. Also it is saving, not savings¹, time. Just remember that you are saving time, daylight time, to be exact. That's the reason for the hyphen too -- daylight-saving is a compound modifier that applies to time.

Time Zones

Most countries have signed on to the idea of a standard world time system For them the world is divided into 24 time zones, and each zone differs by an hour from the time zone next to it. Not everyone uses this system, though. Some time zones don't participate in daylight-saving time, and a few places divide their region into half-hour zones. Actually it's even more complicated than that. Arizona, for example, doesn't participate in daylight-saving time, but other states in the same time zone do. So during standard time, it is the same time in Arizona and Utah, but during daylight-saving time, it is an hour earlier later in Arizona. Because of this confusion, I'm always having to explain time zones to business associates who are in other states.

If you need to indicate that a time is in a certain time zone, the simplest way to do it is to put the time zone abbreviation in parentheses² after the time; for example, 4:00 p.m. (EST) [for eastern standard time].

[Note: I couldn't find a convincing rule about capitalizing time zone names. The Chicago Manual of Style lists the full names in lowercase, with Pacific in Pacific time zone capitalized. The Associated Press Stylebook recommends capitalizing each word in the name when you write it out. Both guides use all caps when abbreviating³ the names (e.g., PST, EST).]

AM and PM

Also, there are at least two acceptable ways to write a.m. and p.m., which are abbreviations for ante meridiem and post meridiem. Ante meridiem is Latin for "before noon" and post meridiem is Latin for "after noon." Note that it is meridieM, with an m, not meridiaN⁴, with an n.

You can write a.m. and p.m. as lowercase letters with periods after them or as small capitals without periods (1, 2). Either way, there should be a space between the time and the a.m. or p.m. that follows. Although small capitals used to be preferred, it's now more common to see lowercase letters followed by periods (a.m. and p.m.)(3). I suspect this is because it’s so hard to make small caps on a computer.

Noon and Midnight

Remember how I said a.m. means "before noon" and p.m. means "after noon"? So what about noon, then? Technically⁵, noon is neither a.m. nor p.m. Although it's common to see noon written as 12:00 p.m. and midnight written as 12:00 a.m., it's not correct and can confuse people. It's better to stick with just the words noon and midnight (4, 5, 6).

Period of Time

There are also a couple common redundancies that relate to time.

For example, it's redundant⁶ to say "8:00 a.m. in the morning." By including the a.m. you've already indicated that it's morning.

It's also usually redundant to use the phrase "period of time." Marc in Long Beach, California, wrote in about this recently: He thought it would be better to say, "O.J. drove his van for a long time" than "O.J. drove his van for a long period of time." And Marc's right; there's no reason to say period of time when time will do just fine (7, 8). Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage argues that occasionally including the words period of adds clarity (9), but I'm willing to bet that 19 times out of 20 you can leave them out without causing confusion.

Mobile Grammar Girl

I just discovered that you can get the Grammar Girl podcast on a Nokia cell phone. I don't have a Nokia phone, so I can't tell you how it works, but Nokia tells me they have a podcast portal for their cell phone users.

Administrative⁷ Stuff

You can find a transcript⁸ of this podcast, my contact information, and all the other great Quick and Dirty Tips podcasts at quickanddirtytips.com. I'm on the road and recorded this episode early, so there won't be a Facebook quiz or Behind the Grammar episode this week.

Finally, in case you were wondering, in 2007 in the United States, daylight-saving time ends on the first Sunday in November (10), so set your clocks back one hour before you go to bed on Saturday November 3.

My time's up, so that's all. Thanks for listening!

 

1 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

2 parentheses   

n.圆括号，插入语，插曲（ parenthesis的名词复数 ）

参考例句：

• Irregular forms are given in parentheses . 不规则形式标注在括号内。
• Answer these questions, using the words in parentheses. Put the apostrophe in the right place. 用句后括号中的词或词组来回答问题，注意撇号的位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 abbreviating   

使简短( abbreviate的现在分词 )； 缩简； 缩略； 使用缩写词

参考例句：

• Savings from abbreviating any one name aren't dramatic, but they add up. 任何单个名字的缩写都不可能带来戏剧性的节省，但是它们可以累积起来。
• Develop your own way of abbreviating words. 养成自己词语缩略方法。

4 meridian   

adj.子午线的；全盛期的

参考例句：

• All places on the same meridian have the same longitude.在同一子午线上的地方都有相同的经度。
• He is now at the meridian of his intellectual power.他现在正值智力全盛期。

5 technically   

adv.专门地，技术上地

参考例句：

• Technically it is the most advanced equipment ever.从技术上说，这是最先进的设备。
• The tomato is technically a fruit,although it is eaten as a vegetable.严格地说，西红柿是一种水果，尽管它是当作蔬菜吃的。

6 redundant   

adj.多余的，过剩的；(食物)丰富的；被解雇的

参考例句：

• There are too many redundant words in this book.这本书里多余的词太多。
• Nearly all the redundant worker have been absorbed into other departments.几乎所有冗员，都已调往其他部门任职。

7 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

8 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。