The English/French counting system (WAS: number systems fromconlangs)
| From: | Nik Taylor <yonjuuni@...> |
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| Date: | Monday, September 15, 2003, 21:38 |
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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) :-)
--
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