Brian Morrison wrote: > On Thu, 19 Jan 2006 17:46:21 +0100 in > [EMAIL PROTECTED] "M.S. Lucas" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > wrote: > >> In Dutch it is '19 January, 2006' just like >> 15:30 is `half four' and not 'half past three' > > That would really confuse people in the UK. "Half four" is verbal > shorthand for half *past* four whereas the Dutch (and German IIRC) is > more literally "half of four" (which isn't 2 either) meaning half > *before* four. I think the US uses this idiom too, BICBW.
In South Africa, "half four" is 3:30. (Historically, South Africa has both Dutch and British influences.) As others have pointed out, in the US, "half /past/ four" is 4:30. -- Matthew.van.Eerde (at) hbinc.com 805.964.4554 x902 Hispanic Business Inc./HireDiversity.com Software Engineer _______________________________________________ http://lurker.clamav.net/list/clamav-users.html
