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Writing time of day and currency amounts - in Poland and in the UK


Polonius3 993 | 12,357
5 Jun 2017 #1
Which is the proper way to write time in English: 10.15 or 10:15? (full stop or colon?)
Proper Polish is 10.15, but 10:15 seems to be creeping in.

Also, $15 or 15$ (of course there's also the officialese USD15), £30 or 30£, €148 or 148€? Poels notoriously write 15$.
mafketis 37 | 10,909
5 Jun 2017 #2
but 10:15 seems to be creeping in.

That's the form used in the US (which doesn't normally use the 24 hour clock). I have no idea about the UK. I'm used to the Polish version now, but it took some time.

For me, $15 looks.... like it's missing something. I think $15.00 looks much better (no reason Poles should).

Also Poles tend to reverse the use of commas and periods in large numbers (or use a space instead of a comma) so that 15,345.37 becomes 15 345,37
Kuzyn - | 22
7 Jun 2017 #3
10.15? I'm Polish and I never used that, I'm always writing 10:15.

1:25 or 01:25
0:13
10:15
17:45
21:55
etc.

About currencies, we say "fifteen zlotys/dollars/euro", that's why Poles usually writes 15$. It's weird to use zł15 (zł is the symbol like $ or £).
OP Polonius3 993 | 12,357
8 Jun 2017 #4
I'm Polish

You must be very young, because 10.15 is still the norm in Poland although the colon (:) is creeping in. One TV news reader (TVN I believe) says: pięć do dziewiątej which is absolutely un-Polish. It should be za pięć dziewiąta. But Poles are notorious copy-cats. Already Mickiewicz wrote: "Co Francuz wymyśli, to Polak polubi". Today we might update it with: "Co Angol (lub Jankes) wymyśli..."

the norm in Poland

Another slight difference are sport scores. In Poland 3:2, in UK 3-2.
Ziemowit 14 | 4,263
8 Jun 2017 #5
Already Mickiewicz wrote: "Co Francuz wymyśli, to Polak polubi".

Bo Paryż częstą mody odmianą sie chlubi, a co Francuz wymyśli to Polak polubi.

because 10.15 is still the norm in Poland although the colon (:) is creeping in.

I've just checked the WKD (Warszawska Kolej Dojazdowa) brochure with their timetables and it is... the colon (:) which is used as a separator between the hour and the minute. I will check some pre-war railways timetables later on and tell you what it was like before 1939.


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