Who says that anymore!?
I ask: "Can you tell me what time it is?"
"Sure! It is three quarters past the hour."
And I freeze.
Three quarters? Three quarters past the hour? Which hour? And what are three-quarters.
A quarter is 25 cents. Three of them past the hour is 75 cents. And, because an hour has 60 minutes, I subtract 60 from 75 and get my 15 cents-- errr, minutes. Three of those quarters past the hour, must be 15 minutes before the hour!!
EASY!
I know that's not how it really works.
I just want the time to be more simple. Like, for instance, when I ask someone: "Can you tell me what time it is?" I would love to be answered, "Sure. It is 5 minutes to 7:00".
Even 6:55 I understand. But speak to me in fractions and I'm completely lost.
And while I'm on this tangent, when it's Tuesday afternoon and you are inviting me for dinner next Thursday night, I think of it as a week from this coming Thursday. Not this Thursday, but next Thursday.
Can't you ask: "Can you come for dinner on Thursday?"
That all sounds easy. And I don't know why we complicate matters.
But then again. My dad used to call a quarter, two bits. So... I should be really grateful that no one is telling me that the time is six-bits past the hour, or I would really be lost....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
11 comments:
I will be there for dinner Thursday at a quarter to 7. :P yer funny...
hi Valgal! Oh I wish we were going to have dinner together at 6:45 on Thursday!
I guess I do know some fractions ... but it's when they go into three quarters past the hour or six quarters before the half hour (is there such a time?) is when I get lost and need a map. Speakin' of maps. Is there ever a simple way to refold them once their open? :O)
Oh, Shawn - when you mentioned this over at my blog, I couldn't stop thinking about this. How sad is that?!! Parts of the world are in chaos and I'm driving around thinking about the confusing ways people relay the time.
Now, I'm with you on the Three quarters thing. I'm a simple person. So if something can be said simply, I appreciate that. So tell me 7:45 and I want to hug you.
But here's my problem - I hate being told it's "Ten of." Of what? What hour? And when I find out the hour, I'm still confused.
The confusion sets in because I have a picture in my head - say of a lady holding a baby. She's already had the baby. The baby is the son of the mother..."OF" - something OF something that already exists.
But, in actuality, I think "ten of" means ten minutes before the hour. But if the hour hasn't even come yet...how can the minutes be "Of" it. Do I sound insane? Or does any of that make sense?
Uh oh... Shawn - I am just as confused as you on the "Next week" thing. But I think you are right. It means the week following that week. I always think it's the very next...I can't go on. My brain is depleted.
I've spent a good portion of my day having this all run through my head. I don't have a working radio in my car - so....
oh Michele!
Tell me about it! (I know you already told me about it, so the phrase "tell me about it" actually means "I agree with you" and I'm not asking you to repeat yourself.
see? Another crazy way we talk. Our language is a tough one to sort through, huh? It's like waiting to hear health test results from your doctor and you're told it's negative which is actually positive. Or discovering your first cousin twice removed or second cousin first removed are really cousins from a different generation.
Oh dear. Did i just say all that? I'm sleepy now
Hey Shawn! I'm with you on the "ten of..." or "it's 20 of..." thing. Never could follow it.
Just checkin' in!
Dave.
Hi Dave! Nice to hear from you! Actually that was Michele mentioning the "ten of" in her comment above ... and I talked about the three-quarters-past-the-hour bit. But that's okay. I know it's tough to follow... ;O)
It's ten of quarter past two-bits from my fifth cousin removed to the south this last tuesday.
OooOoohhh...now my head hurts.
I need pie.
Pie!?!? I'll join you at half-past 1400 hours!!
Now...are we going to have half a pie, quarter bit of pie or half of a quarter bit of pie?
1400 hours! Oh man, now I hafta do math...groan... ;)
You know what I have trouble with...North, South, East and West. I have no idea which way is which unless there is a mountain arond that I can see and I know which direction it is. How can people know which way is which if they are standing in the middle of the desert? The sun, right? But what if you don't have a watch on and know what time it is? Then you don't know where the sun should be.
OooOooohhh...my head hurts again.
We should all carry a sun dial...maybe that would be best.
BTW did you see all the CUTE stuff over at Print and Pattern? Its japanese week!!!
My grandfather used to say, "It's six and a half o'clock"...nowadays, due to digital clocks...9:45 or 10:45 is okay...but yeah who would say three quaters past the hour? ...or, "it's five eighths past the hour." ha!...well, I'll get back to you at zero nine hundred... :o)
Post a Comment