Time to save the day(light)

Is daylight saving your favorite time of year? Well then you just might be a busy word nerd like us. Once a year, the clocks “fall back” for the end of daylight saving (not “savings”) time, and when that happens, the “S” in three-letter time zone abbreviations is once again accurate.

Yes, if you’ve been using “EST,” “PST,” etc., in the months between March and November, you’ve been doing it wrong. But you’re not alone: Even though daylight saving time is in effect the majority of the year for the regions that recognize it, it’s still very common for people to use the “S” instead of the “D” year-round.

Screenshot of a message from Stylebot on Slack that reads: Including time zones in your copy is good practice unless you are writing for a local audience that's not likely to be confused: "The show will premiere at 7 p.m. ET." You can use two or three letters for U.S. time zones: "The debate was over by 8:30 p.m. PDT, so she was able to watch it and still get to bed on time." If you're using three letters, be sure to use the correct middle letter. It's a "D" during daylight saving time, which starts in March and ends in November, and it's an "S" the rest of the year.

What do you usually do with your extra hour when the clocks fall back? We typically use it to correct people’s grammar 😉

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