Why do we say 24 x 7 x 365 rather than 24 x 365?

Question

I saw that when we are saying that something is available at all days of the week at all hours, we say its available 24 x 7, and when its available every day (or, every week) of the year at all hours, we call its there 24 x 7 x 365

I know that 24 x 7 clearly denotes the number of hours in a week, but why do say 24 x 7 x 365 rather than saying 24 x 365? Clearly, both have a different answer after multiplication, and so that denotation of the number of hours is absolutely different.

Is there any reason  for this?

Jon Hanna · Accepted Answer

There are several variants of this, "24/7", "24-7", "24/365", "24X365" and so on.

Those with a multiplication are clearly depending on the fact that e.g. 24×7 will indeed, if calculated, give the number of hours in a week.

The main point of that expression is not to convey 168 nor for "24×365" to convey 8760 (which forgets leap years anyway). It's to convey that information which is also available in the forms which don't use the multiplication symbol, viz that the service, shop, etc. is available at every hour and at every day of the week and/or year.

"24-7-365" conveys availability at every hour and at every day of the week and at every day of the year. The "7" is redundant when we have the "365" but it relates to a different concern: It might be more important to me that a service is available on Saturdays than that it is available on Christmas, so I might care about the "7" more than I do about the "365" even though the latter logically entails the former.

The mathematically incorrect "24×7×365" is just a merging of that with the forms where the arithmetic actually does work, because similar common expressions will always end up being merged, especially when written quickly.

KarlG · Answer

The expression is written several ways: 24-7-365, 24/7/365, or 24x7x365. The last one is not a mathematical formula indicating multiplication, but merely a variation in punctuation. The 365 is an intensifier of the far more common 24/7, since "24 hours a day, 7 days a week" covers everything, though perhaps it assures the reader that the service is also available on legal holidays. Without the 24/7, 24x365, however, does look like a multiplication problem, thus won't likely replace 24-7-365 any time soon.

Answered by KarlG on January 23, 2021

george storm · Answer

I've never seen 27/7-365 or anything like it.  What I have seen (maybe once or twice) is 24/7/52, which makes sense to me: 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.

Greybeard · Answer

I know that 24 x 7 clearly denotes the number of hours in a week.

It doesn’t.
We actually say "[It is available] twenty-four, seven."
“Twenty-four, seven” is  a contraction of “[for/all] twenty-four hours, seven days a week.”
Seven days a week = every day. (adverbial phrase)
Every day includes every day of a year, decade, century and millennium, etc. The 365 (pron. “three-six-five”) is mere emphasis and adds nothing.

Why do we say 24 x 7 x 365 rather than 24 x 365?

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