4 ms·
The same “kids across the street” I reference in another comment needed translation from “quarter to eleven” when they’d ask the time. Makes sense given they co
by mikestew 3mo ago
The same “kids across the street” I reference in another comment needed translation from “quarter to eleven” when they’d ask the time. Makes sense given they couldn’t read an analog face at the time.
- jammaloo 3mo agoSimilarly, when I moved from the UK to Canada, people often didn't understand what I meant when I said it was "half ten", which is the common way of saying ten thirty, at least where I grew up.
- SanjayMehta 3mo agoI never heard that when I lived in the UK in the 70s, but only in Ireland in the late 90s.
- huflungdung 3mo ago[dead]
- gumby 3mo agoI’m a “quarter past” person but I’ve always been confused by “half ten” (which thankfully isn’t used in Australia). But in German, “half ten” means 9:30, which is make more sense to me (probably because I’m used to how German speech often drops words, which is less common in English)
- NopIdoN 3mo agoFor "half ten" we're just dropping a word from "half past ten". How does one get to "half ten" in German? Is it simply starting from "half to ten"?
- Someone 3mo agoHalfway to ten.
- Kon5ole 3mo ago>How does one get to "half ten" in German? Is it simply starting from "half to ten"? Never thought about it much but I think you're spot on. English uses "half past" and therefore "half 10" means 10:30, whereas most other languages use "half to" which causes "half 10" to mean 9:30. One would think this should cause confusion for international meetings often enough to be common knowledge, but I didn't know until today...
- gumby 3mo agoYes but it’s uncommon in English to simply drop a word from a sentence while pretty common in German casual discourse. The only other English common case I can think of is the American “I could [not] care less” dropping “not” which is also confusing.
- mjlee 3mo agoNext, go to Germany or the Netherlands where half ten means 9:30.
- a570xyz 3mo agoHalf ten? So.. 5. Got it.
- ezekg 3mo agoI was thinking 10:30.
- robotresearcher 3mo agoSome Americans say ‘a quarter of X’ and even after 30 years I can’t remember if that’s before or after hour X.
- mikestew 3mo agoBefore. Source: born and raised Midwesterner.
- ChoGGi 3mo agoAs a Canadian, I've never heard anyone say half ten. I do hear half past ten regularly, so you'd figure it'd click :)
- aidenn0 3mo agoMy 18 year old daughter is the same (and also can't read an analog clock). Despite me using "quarter to," "quarter past," and "half past" regularly throughout her life. And we having analog clocks in most communal spaces in our house. And we drilled her on analog clocks for two summers in a row...