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Post by Dave Miller on Jan 25, 2018 15:45:34 GMT
Gosh, things are quiet!
Can anyone explain to me, please, the American expression of time (for example) "a quarter of one". It appears every now and then in Patricia Cornwell's novels and I'm always left wondering whether that means quarter TO one, or quarter PAST one.
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Post by Mark on Jan 25, 2018 21:15:08 GMT
In South Africa half two probably means half past one (past the hour) - to an Afrikaaner.
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Post by Dave Miller on Jan 25, 2018 21:43:11 GMT
Yes, I recall when (all too briefly) learning German that "half eight" in English means half PAST eight, but "halb acht" means half an hour BEFORE eight!
But what of "a quarter of one"?
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Post by Twoddle on Jan 25, 2018 23:02:29 GMT
No doubt USA Dave can give the definitive answer, but I've always assumed that "A quarter of one" means "A quarter to one", i.e. 12.45. It's rather like the French "Une heure moins le quart" - "One hour less the quarter".
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Post by Verbivore on Jan 29, 2018 3:00:20 GMT
Gosh, things are quiet! Can anyone explain to me, please, the American expression of time (for example) "a quarter of one". It appears every now and then in Patricia Cornwell's novels and I'm always left wondering whether that means quarter TO one, or quarter PAST one. I've always (rightly or wrongly) taken it to mean a quarter TO one. In Oz, "half one" means half past one – though is usually said here only by Brits (and yours truly). Patricia Cornwell? My late Mum was a great fan of hers, and I've read quite a few of Mum's hand-me-downs of PC's work over the years. As whodunnits go, I thought them quite good. Not sure why it's been so quiet on here of late, but in Oz we're just over the xmas/new year holidays, including, Friday last, Australia Day (otherwise known as Invasion Day or Survival Day, particularly by our Indigenous peoples – and, by me and others of similar opinion, Flag 'n' Snag Day because of the popularity of barbecues on the occasion). It's a "celebration" (WTF!) of Governor Phillip's sailing into Sydney Cove with the First Fleet and establishing the convict colony while displacing and disowning the Aborigines. In my opinion, hardly worthy of celebration, but "true blue" Aussies like to lick their flags and wave their ice-creams while getting skin cancer at the beach. Schools started up again today, so all should now be back to "normal". Perhaps the xmas/new year break has also affected input from elsewhere.
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Post by Verbivore on Jan 30, 2018 0:55:57 GMT
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Post by Dave Miller on Jan 30, 2018 8:13:53 GMT
Wow. Do people really get some of those wrong?
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Post by Little Jack Horner on Jan 30, 2018 14:23:43 GMT
I have to agree that these questions are pretty easy but there are undoubtedly people in this world who will get some wrong and I have seen or heard at least two of them in use — baited breath and could care less, for example. Of course comedic examples of such misuse can be found as far back as Shakespeare’s plays (Dogberry in Much Ado About Nothing) and Mrs Malaprop in Sheridan’s The Rivals from the 18th century.
I think most of us, especially as children, must have perpetrated similar solecisms in our time and have been guilty of mondegreens. Let us not be too dismissive of such errors. We can all mishear stuff.
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Post by Dave Miller on Jan 30, 2018 16:22:47 GMT
Ah, I am guilty of ambiguity.
When I said "Do people really get some of those wrong?", I didn't mean "those are all such that no-one should get some of them wrong"; I meant "some of those are such that no-one should get them wrong".
I was thinking particularly of Sistine Chapel and bear in mind. Though I do rather like "nip it in the butt"!
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