Noon

Noon is twelve o'clock in the middle of the day. It lasts no time at all, which makes it the only part of the day that is already over by the time anyone finishes saying “it's noon”. Everyone who has ever said it has therefore been wrong, usually by about half a second, which is a very small fraction of a minute.^[1]

Noon is spelled the same forwards and backwards, so that it can be read from the morning side or the afternoon side without favouring either.

High noon

Noon is often called “high noon”. In 1951 a surveyor climbed a ladder at 11:59 to check whether noon was higher than other times. It was not. He came down at 12:01 and reported that noon had passed beneath him while he was looking up, and that it had been roughly ladder height.^[2]

Clocks

At noon both hands of a clock point straight up at the same time. It is the only moment of the day on which they agree, and they do it twice, once at midnight as well, which they prefer not to discuss because nobody was watching.

Lunch

Noon is traditionally associated with lunch. Lunch is not traditionally associated with noon, and usually begins at around 12:40, after a meeting that overran.

See also

• Time – of which noon is a very small amount
• Sun – highest at noon, and modest about it
• Minute – much longer than noon
• Elevenses – an hour before it, with biscuits

References

1. Meridian, M. (1951). “Report from the Ladder”. Proceedings of Midday 12: 00.
2. Twelve, T. (2004). Both Hands Up. Clockwork Press. p. 12.