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Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? It is very confusing for non english speaker.Because we have to convert half to 30 and past t

Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? It is very confusing for non english speaker.Because we have to convert half to 30 and past to past and hour. Hmmm.... in recent trip two times is missed correct time and asked 6:45 or 7:15 tell me exact time. Is it very difficult for the people who are used say in work like half past seven to say 7:30 ?

jurie 9y ago
Even more confusing is when people don't give an indication of which side of the hour they're talking about. I grew up speaking Canadian English, and was completely lost when I asked a Brit for the time and was told "Quarter four". Is that 3:45, 4:15, or .25*4=1?
- mutatio 9y ago
  "Quarter four" we'd never say, did you mean "quarter to four" - in which case it's 3:45.
  - jt2190 9y ago
    Perhaps he meant to write: "quarter of four". As opposed to: "quarter to four".
    - abritinthebay 9y ago
      Which would still be really strange and not understood by most Brits (source: am Brit)
    - sjrd 9y ago
      In old-ish French (spoken by my grandparents' generation in some parts of Belgium), you can still hear "la demie de 2 heures" and "le quart de 7 heures", which directly translate to "the half of 2 hours" and "the quarter of 7 hours". They in fact mean 1:30 and 6:45! (am or pm depending on the context). Also in current Dutch, at least as spoken in Belgium aka Flamish, we say "half twee" which means "half two" and refers to 1:30.
  - the_mitsuhiko 9y ago
    Quarter four in German is 3:15
  - pbhjpbhj 9y ago
    It's not uncommon in some areas of the UK to swallow the "to", basically poor diction, which to the untrained ear it would sound as "quart'a four". It doesn't happen with "past", but then people often miss off the hour and just say "quarter past". In Russian as I was taught in high-school they refer to the coming hour, like "15 minutes of 3" is 02h15.
- deleted 9y ago
  [deleted]
tossaway1 9y ago
> Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? New generation? My grandparents said things like "half past" and "quarter till" and they were born 100+ years ago.
Broken_Hippo 9y ago
> Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? It is very confusing for non english speaker I completely understand why it is confusing. It isn't limited to younger folks, however. The reason for this is simply because exact time often doesn't matter.

jurie 9y ago

Even more confusing is when people don't give an indication of which side of the hour they're talking about. I grew up speaking Canadian English, and was completely lost when I asked a Brit for the time and was told "Quarter four". Is that 3:45, 4:15, or .25*4=1?

mutatio 9y ago
"Quarter four" we'd never say, did you mean "quarter to four" - in which case it's 3:45.
- jt2190 9y ago
  Perhaps he meant to write: "quarter of four". As opposed to: "quarter to four".
  - abritinthebay 9y ago
    Which would still be really strange and not understood by most Brits (source: am Brit)
  - sjrd 9y ago
    In old-ish French (spoken by my grandparents' generation in some parts of Belgium), you can still hear "la demie de 2 heures" and "le quart de 7 heures", which directly translate to "the half of 2 hours" and "the quarter of 7 hours". They in fact mean 1:30 and 6:45! (am or pm depending on the context). Also in current Dutch, at least as spoken in Belgium aka Flamish, we say "half twee" which means "half two" and refers to 1:30.
- the_mitsuhiko 9y ago
  Quarter four in German is 3:15
- pbhjpbhj 9y ago
  It's not uncommon in some areas of the UK to swallow the "to", basically poor diction, which to the untrained ear it would sound as "quart'a four". It doesn't happen with "past", but then people often miss off the hour and just say "quarter past". In Russian as I was taught in high-school they refer to the coming hour, like "15 minutes of 3" is 02h15.
deleted 9y ago
[deleted]

tossaway1 9y ago

> Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? New generation? My grandparents said things like "half past" and "quarter till" and they were born 100+ years ago.

Broken_Hippo 9y ago

> Why is the new generation not using exact time like 6:45 5:30 etc? It is very confusing for non english speaker I completely understand why it is confusing. It isn't limited to younger folks, however. The reason for this is simply because exact time often doesn't matter.