steve
Commander
Posts: 614
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Post by steve on Sept 16, 2024 11:42:26 GMT -7
CONFESSIONAL - FROM A FEDERATION COLONIST
[Note - The text has been edited for clarity and context. It has been edited with contemporary Terran audiences in mind. Idioms and local references have been changed to the most appropriate Terran equivalent.]
"My family and I are going to The Moon for a break. A 'break' is what ancient Terrans might call a vacation or holiday or whatever. It's complicated."
"OK, in ancient Terran times, there was 'the week' and 'the weekend.' You worked during the week and then you had 'the weekend' off. Because everyone was on the same planet, everyone had the same days and the same hours. Fine. I get all of that."
"However, once people started being someplace other than Terra, you start to ask - What is a day? A week? When you remove yourself from one standard, how many other standards are there?"
"Anyway, there were a bunch of different standards and then finally, there were no standards. Actually, there are standards but everyone pretty much adheres to their local standard for time and then simply grafts on the official standards when you need them. It's like ancient time zones - Everyone uses their local time zone even though there's a standard in the background the entire time. For instance, no one uses UCT (Coordinated Universal Time) but the local time is sort of translated into UCT when needed. If that makes sense, which I'm sure it doesn't."
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steve
Commander
Posts: 614
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Post by steve on Sept 18, 2024 12:56:31 GMT -7
CONFESSIONAL - FROM A FEDERATION COLONIST
[Note - The text has been edited for clarity and context. It has been edited with contemporary Terran audiences in mind. Idioms and local references have been changed to the most appropriate Terran equivalent.]
"Forgot to circle back to what a 'break' is. I'm stupid. SFA is going to love me when I get there."
"OK, you'd think that '24 hours a day' would be universal but it isn't. Or that '7 days a week' is universal but it isn't. If you're an ancient Terran suddenly thrust into the future, it must be unthinkable that we have a bajillion time standards as opposed to only one but that's just how it is. Wherever you are, you use what works. Yes, technically, all of these different standards have to be grafted back onto one standard but no one uses that standard. You just use your local standard."
"And our standard for what ancient Terrans called a 'vacation' or 'holiday' or 'weekend' is called 'a break.' We still have days and those days aren't a 'week' but a 'skej' (as in "schedule" or "scheduled work"). If I slip into ancient Terran or use it, that's for your benefit. You're welcome. [ED. NOTE - We're going to translate this for you in later posts so that you don't need to learn it. You're welcome.] For example, school is a 4 day skej with 2 day break and maybe one day for school-sponsored activities or something like that. 'Skej' is used both as an entire week (Monday through Sunday) and a work week (Monday through Friday) but in context. If you need to be specific, you'd be like 'school is 4 day work with 2 day break' instead of using 'skej.'"
"This is way tougher to explain than I thought. Maybe I'll just use ancient Terran equivalents."
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