Daylight Saving time finishes on Sunday April 1st, at 2am. It is time to put your clock back one hour. To help you remember which way to change your clock, you can say, ‘Spring Forward, Fall Back’. Fall is the American word for Autumn. The verb ‘to spring’ means to jump forward or upward. It is true that people can fall forward or backward. In fact people or things usually fall down so it is not very helpful to say ‘fall back’. However, you can’t spring backward.
When we give a word two meanings at the same time (i.e. Spring – a season, spring – jump forward) this is called a pun.
Right now when it is nearly time to change our clocks, the mornings are dark. If you wake up at 7am, it looks like 6am outside. Next week it will be lighter at 7am and easier to get out of bed. At the other end of the day it will get dark earlier in the evening.
Many countries in the Northern Hemisphere have already moved to Daylight Saving time. They put their clocks forward one hour.
Changing our clocks is a reminder that winter is on the way.
Listen to September 24th 2011 to hear more about Daylight Saving.
Jokes are often puns. Here’s an example:
Why did the man throw the clock out of the window?
He wanted to see time fly.
Spelling
Note comparatives: lighter, easier, earlier. Make comparatives of happy, tidy, sad (double the d).
Thank you for your explaining spring. It means to jump forward or upward or a season. Would you explain spring in a coastguard book i.e. Headspring and sternspring and MHWS mean high water springs. How to understand those three springs? Thanks
I suggest you google ‘spring lines’. This is boating terminology and beyond my area of expertise I’m afraid. I wonder if high water spring has anything to do with Spring tide when the tide is high after a new or full moon but I think it’s more likely to be related to boating.