<P> Some clock - shift problems could be avoided by adjusting clocks continuously or at least more gradually--for example, Willett at first suggested weekly 20 - minute transitions--but this would add complexity and has never been implemented . </P> <P> DST inherits and can magnify the disadvantages of standard time . For example, when reading a sundial, one must compensate for it along with time zone and natural discrepancies . Also, sun - exposure guidelines such as avoiding the sun within two hours of noon become less accurate when DST is in effect . </P> <P> As explained by Richard Meade in the English Journal of the (American) National Council of Teachers of English, the form daylight savings time (with an "s") was already in 1978 much more common than the older form daylight saving time in American English ("the change has been virtually accomplished"). Nevertheless even dictionaries such as Merriam - Webster's, American Heritage, and Oxford, which describe actual usage instead of prescribing outdated usage (and therefore also list the newer form), still list the older form first . This is because the older form is still very common in print and preferred by many editors . ("Although daylight saving time is considered correct, daylight savings time (with an "s") is commonly used. ") The first two words are sometimes hyphenated (daylight - saving (s) time). Merriam - Webster's also lists the forms daylight saving (without "time"), daylight savings (without "time"), and daylight time . </P> <P> In Britain, Willett's 1907 proposal used the term daylight saving, but by 1911 the term summer time replaced daylight saving time in draft legislation . The same or similar expressions are used in many other languages: Sommerzeit in German, zomertijd in Dutch, kesäaika in Finnish, horario de verano or hora de verano in Spanish, and heure d'été in French . </P>

When did daylight savings time originate and why