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Post by tremblinwilbury on Apr 11, 2020 8:02:39 GMT
I'm watching a documentary on the Smithsonian Channel called "Memphis Belle in Colour". A very good documentary about a very famous aeroplane. During it, the narrator (a Mercan) says "three hundred seventy six", and again "two thousand five". Over here in the UK and Ireland we'd say "three hundred AND seventy six", and "two thousand AND five". Sometime, somehow in crossing the Atlantic, the word 'and' got lost. I'd love to know when - and why. Just askin'
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Post by Horacewimp on Apr 11, 2020 9:54:37 GMT
I wouldn’t like to say but I think they are just lazy.
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Post by dillwyn on Apr 11, 2020 10:03:49 GMT
amazed this is still a thing
Why does America write the date differently? American colonists favoured the monthly format, while the British Empire drifted towards the European style of dd-mm-yyyy. The American format did not cause as much confusion as the date was usually written out in full. ... America stuck with mm-dd-yyyy while the rest of the world moved to a more logical format.
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Post by Horacewimp on Apr 11, 2020 10:11:31 GMT
They tell the time differently as well, I remember I was queuing for a ride at Wet and Wild in Florida when some USA school kids in front of me asked the time I said “a quarter to eleven” they all looked confused but one of them got it and explained to the others. They looked at me as if I was from a different planet then said “that’s cute, where do you come from?“ we then got chatting about how we have different words in the U.K. it passed sometime waiting for the ride.
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Post by Grroosss on Apr 12, 2020 6:08:04 GMT
tremblinwilbury- Maybe I'm an outlier, but for me 'and' isn't really 'lost' so much as 'frequently misplaced'... I wish I could say there's some rhyme or reason as to when I use 'and' and when I don't, but you'd have to catch me off-guard reading numbers to analyze if there's any pattern to it, all I know is that I do occasionally add the 'and' in there. My guess is that I'm more likely to say 'and' when there are places with zeroes in them--for example I'd probably always say "three hundred seventy-six" whereas I might say "three hundred AND six". dillwyn - When it comes to just about anything in academia, we're supposed to use dd-mm-yyyy format anyway, so why it's still stuck around in America I honestly have no idea. The only advantage I've found is if you're saving a file on your computer and putting the date at the end of the file name as a latest revision/version number, using mm-dd-yyyy keeps them in chronological order. Horacewimp- That could also be partially a generational thing. "A quarter to" is perfectly normal to me and I've used it plenty myself, but I do tend to hear it mostly from adults.
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And?
Apr 12, 2020 7:14:20 GMT
Post by Timeblue on Apr 12, 2020 7:14:20 GMT
They tell the time differently as well, I remember I was queuing for a ride at Wet and Wild in Florida when some USA school kids in front of me asked the time I said “a quarter to eleven” they all looked confused but one of them got it and explained to the others. They looked at me as if I was from a different planet then said “that’s cute, where do you come from?“ we then got chatting about how we have different words in the U.K. it passed sometime waiting for the ride. So how did they say it, 10-45? 15 minutes to 11?
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And?
Apr 12, 2020 8:05:26 GMT
Post by Horacewimp on Apr 12, 2020 8:05:26 GMT
They tell the time differently as well, I remember I was queuing for a ride at Wet and Wild in Florida when some USA school kids in front of me asked the time I said “a quarter to eleven” they all looked confused but one of them got it and explained to the others. They looked at me as if I was from a different planet then said “that’s cute, where do you come from?“ we then got chatting about how we have different words in the U.K. it passed sometime waiting for the ride. So how did they say it, 10-45? 15 minutes to 11? I’m not 100% sure but I think they can say “ten forty five” or “15 minutes to eleven”, half past is “ten thirty”
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Post by Timeblue on Apr 12, 2020 8:27:50 GMT
I wouldn’t like to say but I think they are just lazy. Ever heard that saying ' a can of worms'?
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Post by lasttrain929 on Apr 12, 2020 9:06:44 GMT
I wouldn’t like to say but I think they are just lazy. Ever heard that saying ' a can of worms'? Think you’re right timeblue might just keep my social distance here......
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Post by orioles70 on Apr 12, 2020 12:11:07 GMT
Horace, I think the time thing is generational. Kids don't wear watches (even adults are losing that habit). Time for them is almost always a digital display on their phone. 1/4 til, or half past come naturally when you're looking at a big round dial. Not so much when you're looking at a string of digits.
Jeff was ahead of the curve on this digital time thing. He could have sung "it was half past nine, half past nine, back street, big city". But he's very precise.
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Post by lasttrain929 on Apr 12, 2020 13:52:38 GMT
Horace, I think the time thing is generational. Kids don't wear watches (even adults are losing that habit). Time for them is almost always a digital display on their phone. 1/4 til, or half past come naturally when you're looking at a big round dial. Not so much when you're looking at a string of digits. Jeff was ahead of the curve on this digital time thing. He could have sung "it was half past nine, half past nine, back street, big city". But he's very precise. Somebody should use that as a forum name orioles70, hang on.....
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Post by BSJ on Apr 12, 2020 17:50:11 GMT
I said “a quarter to eleven” I tend to say "quarter OF eleven"
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Post by BSJ on Apr 12, 2020 20:58:15 GMT
I wouldn’t like to say but I think they are just lazy.
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Post by queenofthehours on Apr 13, 2020 14:15:31 GMT
I'm watching far too much Smithsonian Channel lately. I didn't see Memphis Belle in Colour but I'm obsessed with Arial America.
The leader on a course I went on used to go on month-long cruises at Christmas on boats largely filled with Americans. She won a quiz night once because she was the only person who knew that a fortnight was two weeks. Apparently fortnights are a British thing?
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And?
Apr 13, 2020 20:39:59 GMT
Post by unomusette on Apr 13, 2020 20:39:59 GMT
Speaking of fortnights the French confuse things even more by calling a fortnight a quinzaine which translates to 15 days not 14 I've been struck by the way Mercans will say Monday through Friday instead of the (obviously correct)UK version which is Monday to Friday. Maybe the "to" is implied, and would come after the "through"? I adore the Smithsonian channel, they do Aerials of other countries too which are equally fab
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