Daylight Saving Time: Why Two States Want To Get Rid Of It, And Why There’s No S At The End Of ‘Saving’
Daylight Saving Time (not “Daylight Savings Time,” but more on that in a few paragraphs) comes up this time every year, and today the Inqusitr is here to tell you about two states that are thinking of ditching the decades-old program. As an added bonus, you’ll learn how and why you’ve been pronouncing it wrong this whole time.
Winter Time Is “Real” Time; Daylight Saving Time (Spring & Summer) Is “Fake”
OK, time is relative and arbitrary – or at least, how we record time is relative and arbitrary. For thousands of years, humans have been looking up at the sky, noting when the Sun is highest in its arc, calling that “Noon,” and going from there. That worked, more or less, for centuries. Or at least, until the advent of train travel necessitated time zones. But, long story short, when it’s winter, you’re on “real time” – that is, the time that most closely approximates the ancient method of matching the clock to the Sun’s highest point in the sky, according to The History Channel. When you’re on Daylight Saving Time, you’ve artificially set the clocks forward to give yourself an extra hour of daylight in the evening (at the expense of daylight in the morning; the length of the day doesn’t increase, naturally).
Florida And Massachusetts Want To Get Rid Of It
According to Yahoo News, both the Sunshine State and the Bay State (that is, Florida and Massachusetts) want to get rid of the practice of changing clocks twice yearly.
#Florida legislature has passed a bill by @gregsteube & @RepJNunez that seeks all-year daylight saving time for our state. Next week (after we spring forward on our clocks) I will file a bill to provide federal approval required by law. #Sayfie https://t.co/iPnzzBGlzC
— Marco Rubio (@marcorubio) March 9, 2018
In fact, both states are considering adopting spring & summertime year-round. In the Florida case, as Senator Marco Rubio noted, it’s basically a ploy, as there’s no real reason to do it other than the benefit of later sunlight in the day, rather than in the morning.
But in the Massachusetts case, basically what the state is doing is trying to align the state, which is further east than much of the U.S. and, thus, gets dark earlier, with more eastern time zones. In essence, Massachusetts would be in the same time zone as Nova Scotia and Puerto Rico year-round.
It’s Not Daylight Savings Time; There’s No S At The End Of The Word
By the way, you’ve almost certainly pronounced the name of the program wrong at some point in your life, as a Google search reveals that the phrase “Daylight Savings Time,” with the S at the end, revealed 11 million results, vs. 22 million results when spelled correctly.
So how did the unnecessary “s” get added there at the end? Probably because, according to Time and Date, the phrase shares its name with a common banking product that’s referred to in the plural: a savings account. That, or it could be just one of those things, like incorrectly saying the last book of the Bible with an S at the end (it’s Revelation, not Revelations) or incorrectly pronouncing American Actress Sally Field’s last name (there’s no S at the end of her name, either).
In other words, it will cost you dearly on Jeopardy!, but it won’t make any real difference in your life.
