> Why on earth should someone living in a state specifically ask for the local time in a different location within that same state?
True, and that's another contextual layer to deal with: that e.g. the state of Ohio is in a single timezone and that - why on Earth should someone ask the time within the same timezone? - like you said. And then there may be contextual exceptions even from this rule...
you might not know where the timezone boundary is - they move, or you're new to the area. alternatively, there could be a daylight savings boundary in between, so it is only in the same timezone for half the year.
the fact that americans are inclined to say the state name as part of the name of a place could also help - since they might say london ohio, london might be more likely to mean the real london.
True, and that's another contextual layer to deal with: that e.g. the state of Ohio is in a single timezone and that - why on Earth should someone ask the time within the same timezone? - like you said. And then there may be contextual exceptions even from this rule...