title: Displaying hour-format (am/pm or not) in Rails based on current locale
body: <p>I just realized that the l (or localize) method in Rails (3.1.3 at the moment) appears to not manage the clock format base on the currently set locale. I have just assumed this was the case and not tested for this specifically... I have just verified that dates were re-formatted according to the locale.</p>
  
  <p>I get a 24-hour clock for all of the following in my rails console. The only visible difference between the two locales is capitalization of the month name.</p>
  
  <pre><code>I18n.l Time.now, :format =&gt; :short,  :locale =&gt; :"en"
  I18n.l Time.now + 12.hours, :format =&gt; :short,  :locale =&gt; :"en"
  I18n.l Time.now, :format =&gt; :short,  :locale =&gt; :"sv-SE"
  I18n.l Time.now + 12.hours, :format =&gt; :short,  :locale =&gt; :"sv-SE"
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>Now, why is that?
  Is this not part of localizing a time?</p>
  
  <p>The only manual intervention of AM/PM I find is in generating the selects for forms where I can demand 12-hour clock "manually". An odd choice since it feels to me like just the kind of thing I want to rely on the locale for.</p>
  
  <p>Looking at Mac OS, I do get to choose the language and the locale for format preferences separately, but that is why we have the en-US, en-GB, sv-SE naming, right? Signifying language-COUNTRY. It would be perfectly OK for me to add a en-SE file to my app containing English translations by formatting suitable in Sweden.</p>
  
  <p>I assume not all US-developers go in and edit the defaults locale file for English (en-US looks the same as en btw) to get a 12-hour clock suitable for US users. So, feel free to show me how dumb I am. I fully expect this problem to be sure to something really really basic.</p>
  
  <p>In short. What I am getting wrong? And how do I "fix" my timestamps? :)</p>