Setting the alarm on a 30 minute delay

[HaraKiriBlade]

If I set the alarm to go off on a 30 minute delay and I usually wake up at 5am, does it mean the alarm will go off 30 minutes earlier or later? Or does the whole sentence even make sense to you?

[Mister Micawber]

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It doesn't really sound natural to me, since the alarm itself does not have a 'delay' function-- you just want it to ring 30 minutes later than when you should get up.
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[HaraKiriBlade]

Thank you, Mister Micawber, for confirming this.

The text was from a fan-translation of a Japanese game. This particular part about setting the alarm on a 30-minute delay came a bit odd to me, too, since you either press snooze button to sleep longer or you set the alarm clock whatever minutes earlier or later.

The original text in the game actually meant that the the main character set the alarm 30 minutes earlier than when she should wake up and that gives her 30-minute margin. If the 'delay' gave you the impression that the alarm was set 30 minutes later, then the translation totally changes the original meaning. Thanks again!

[Tdol]

An alarm clock would only have a delay for me if it were connected to a bomb.

[ebb]

Some people intentionally set their alarm clocks to be X minutes too fast. That creates what is known here as a "fudge factor." You fudge a bit on the time, in the vain hope of not being as late to your appointment as is your wont.

[HaraKiriBlade]

Tdol / So that's the first impression you get when you hear about an alarm clock set on a delay, eh? now I know for sure the translation team really messed up on this part.

Ebb / 'fudge factor' and 'fudge on the time'... nice, I may use this expression for my version of the translation. (I'm re-trasnlating the game)

Thanks again everyone for inputs!

[Tdol]

:-d