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I hear phrases like "half-past", "quarter til", and "quarter after" way less often since digital clocks have became more commonplace. (midwest.social)
submitted 8 months ago by GiuseppeAndTheYeti@midwest.social to c/showerthoughts@lemmy.world
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[-] pimento64@sopuli.xyz 39 points 8 months ago

I did the same thing with my parents, mostly because they'd just say "quarter after" but would never say any number. If you made a word cloud of everything I've ever said in my life, "after what" would be gigantic in the center with every other word tiny around the edges.

[-] MIDItheKID@lemmy.world 14 points 8 months ago

This just triggered a deep memory from within me. My brother used to say "half past" when I asked him the time, and when I would say "half past what?" the response was always "Half past the monkeys ass, a quarter to his balls"

I still don't know what it means or where it came from, but when I was 8 years old, it was hilarious.

[-] PoopingCough@lemmy.world 6 points 8 months ago

Even worse than that imo is 'quarter of'. I swear to god it's been used to mean both before or after whatever hour they're talking about

[-] Willy@sh.itjust.works 5 points 8 months ago

mfrs think I know what hours its close to when I probably don't know the day and am lucky to know what month it is.

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 3 points 8 months ago

Anyone using "quarter of" to mean X:15 is just incorrect. That's "quarter after".

[-] John_McMurray@lemmy.world -2 points 8 months ago

When you say quarter of, you are supposed to say the next hour. Quarter after 4 is a quarter of 5.

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

That's... I guess that makes sense but that's really weird and ambiguous.

[-] bobagem@sh.itjust.works 1 points 8 months ago* (last edited 8 months ago)

Quarter after four is 4:15.

Quarter of five is 4:45. Also quarter to five and quarter til five.

I'm seeing other comments that suggest I might be wrong. Especially in regards to other languages.

[-] thistledown@rblind.com 1 points 8 months ago

I would not have guessed that meaning of "of." I think we should stick to "til" or "past" for clarity.

[-] Feathercrown@lemmy.world 2 points 8 months ago

EVERY TIME

this post was submitted on 06 Mar 2024
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