Date: Fri, 3 Dec 1993 05:21:39 -0600

From: Natalie Maynor maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]RA.MSSTATE.EDU

Subject: Re: Half Past the Hour



"Half past" is the term I learned when I learned English at school (in

Sweden), and also the overwhelmingly common one I've heard used by Brits. I

always assumed that "half past three" was the standard expression, "three

thirty" being an American (USian?) variant. That is, if you don't mean 3.30



That was my assumption until I raised the question a few days ago --

except that I assumed that "three thirty" was the standard expression,

with "half past three" being a British variant. ;-)

--Natalie (maynor[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]ra.msstate.edu)