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Don't get me started with the (non-English) usage of "half-seven" to indicate either half past six or half past seven, depending on some non-obvious cultural fa
by dkjaudyeqooe 5y ago
Don't get me started with the (non-English) usage of "half-seven" to indicate either half past six or half past seven, depending on some non-obvious cultural factor.
- _delirium 5y agoThat one has English usage too! "Half seven" is common in British English to mean half past seven. But yes, as you allude, it's a source of confusion for Danish, German, and other foreigners in the UK, some of whom speak a language where "half seven" means 6:30 instead.
- dkjaudyeqooe 5y agoWell, I hadn't encountered it there, but now I know. In the Netherlands it seem to mean both, depending on which part of the country you were from.
- brnt 5y agoNope, in NL its not ambiguous.
- lvncelot 5y agoIn German, "half seven" indicates half past six, everywhere. But - annoyingly, there's also "quarter seven", which is a regional thing. And then you're left to decipher whether both are short for "{half,quarter} [left until the hour] seven" or "{half,quarter} [have passed since the hour before] seven". It's the latter, btw.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- FeepingCreature 5y agoShould be disambiguated by the fact that quarter to seven is viertel vor sieben, right? So, viertel sieben, halb sieben, viertel vor/dreiviertel sieben, sieben.