Nik Taylor wrote:
>
> I've often wondered why we say "Quarter past" and "quarter till" but
> never *"Third past" (for :20) or *"Third till" (for :40) :-)
My mother (born 1926 in the midwestern USA) always said "of the" hour
for "till the hour." ("School starts this year at a quarter of nine." =
8:45)
despite my protestations as a teenager that it makes no sense.
I always say "before" the hour and "after" the hour. I always say "thirty"
for "half past."
8:15 = a quarter after eight.
8:45 = a quarter before nine.
8:30 = eight-thirty.
--Ph. D.