Jonathan Knibb wrote:
> Christophe wrote:
>
> > So "half past one" is in Dutch "half twee" ("half two" in literal
> > translation) and "twenty past one" becomes "tien voor half twee"
> > (literally "ten before half two").
>
> A quick glance at my trusty Routledge 'Colloquial Czech' confirms my
> recollection that, in Czech, 'twenty to one' becomes 'za pe^t minut
> tr^i c^tvrte^ na jednu' (^ = hacek over preceding letter);
> literally,
> 'behind five minutes three quarters to one'; that is, 'in five
> minutes
> it will be three quarters of the way to one'.
The switch to digital clocks/watches is probably killing such expressions
everywhere.