Re: The English/French counting system (WAS: number systems fromconlangs)

On Monday 15 September 2003 04:37 pm, Nik Taylor wrote:
> Joe wrote:
> > Because no-one says 'half until eight', that's why.  It's just the
omission
> > of a common word, to make things quicker.
>
> But which word is being omitted is the problem.  Americans say "Half
> past eight", so hearing "half eight", we'd assume the omitted word is
> "past".
>
> I've often wondered why we say "Quarter past" and "quarter till" but
> never *"Third past" (for :20) or *"Third till" (for :40)  :-)
Probably because nobody made chiming clocks that chimed at the thirds.... when
people told time by the church- or market tower clock, the hours and quarters
(including the halfs) were marked audibly, so they were entities in and of
themselves.

There's a neat bit in one of the filmed versions of 'Christmas Carol' where
Scrooge is laying in bed in the middle of the night figuring out what time it
is by listening to the chimes...

My Dad was a watchmaker (i.e. repairer of watches and clocks) when that still
meant doing things with little tiny gears, not electronic circuits, so I've
always had an interest in gear clocks.

>
> --
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Elyse Grasso

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