Date:  Tue, 30 Nov 1993 17:37:46 -0800

From:  Donald Livingston <deljr[AT SYMBOL GOES HERE]U.WASHINGTON.EDU>

Subject: Re: Half Past the Hour



For my idiolect, "It's a quarter of four" unambiguously means 3:45.

Three variations sound fine: quarter of/to/till four. What's odd is

that although "quarter till four" sounds fine, "quarter until four"

sounds silly to me.



Usage gets strange. "Half past midnight" and "half past noon" sound

fine. But "It's a quarter after midnight/noon" sounds funny.



As Emily Litella said, "It's always something."



All the best, D. Livingston.