hu_HU: change time separator to colon [BZ #18918]
The previous (11th) version of the Hungarian spelling rules (released
in 1984) said that the separator had to be a dot, e.g. 10.35 meaning
10 o'clock 35 minutes. glibc correctly implements this.
The brand new (12th) version, in effect since September 1, 2015 adopts
to the common use of colon (especially in the digital world) and
allows to use either separator, without even expressing a preference.
For computer systems, using colons is way more typical and probably
easier to recognize. Dot is typically used in printed materials.
It also avoids an almost ambiguous situation where a space makes a
difference, e.g. "10.15-ig" means "until 10 o'clock 15 minutes"
whereas "10. 15-ig" means "until 15th of October". So I believe using
the colon as the separator is not only more frequent in the computer
world, but is also easier and quicker to recognize for the brain that
it's about hour:minute rather than month and day. And luckily it's now
equally correct according to the official rules.
11th edition: http://helyesiras.mta.hu/helyesiras/default/akh11
12th edition: http://helyesiras.mta.hu/helyesiras/default/akh12
In both editions it's the very last (299th and 300th, respectively) rule.
Microsoft also uses and recommends a colon since at least May 2011:
http://download.microsoft.com/download/e/6/1/
e61266b2-d8b4-4fe0-a553-
f01dc3976675/hun-hun-StyleGuide.pdf
The time format is different in common language and in the language of
IT. In common texts we usually do not abbreviate, so the full forms are
used: “7 óra 10 perckor csörgött a telefon”. However, the short format,
consisting of numerals only, can also be used. In this case a period
must be used between the two numbers and there must not be a space
between them: “találkozzunk 10.45-kor”.
However, in software mostly the short format is used, and the numbers
are separated by a colon. An obvious example is the clock in the bottom
right corner of your screen, thus 18:31.