# "Half past kissing time, time to kiss again": How widespread? Other language equivalents? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 27, 2018, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849 "2018-06-27T16:55:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/41 "2018-06-27T19:25:33Z")
The only facetious response to “what time is it” that I remember as a kid are: 1. Half-past monkey’s ass, quarter to his balls. 2. Time to get a watch. Don’t know the “kissing time” one, nor have I heard the “cow” variant of #1. Chicago area, 80s childhood. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/42 "2018-06-27T19:48:26Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “jags”? > > Is this derived from “jag-off” and is (I presume) less hostile? > > I ask–and I’m glad it came up–because in the Scorcese _Goodfellas_ and \*Casino \* the NY/Kansas City) Pesci character used it repeatedly, and for the life of me I never heard it before. > > And this from Scorcese, who (and/or screenwriter) used “fuck him in the ear” and “what am I, a schmuck on wheels?” so perfectly in _Goodfellas_. Neither jag nor jag-off is particularly more hostile than any other insult and it’s probably a milder one as insults go. I think they’re both about the equivalent of ‘jerk’ or maybe ‘a\*\*hole.’ Jag is just shorter to say, so I sometimes hear it and sometimes hear jag-off. It can be used in a friendly, ribbing way or an insulting way, just like jerk can be. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/43 "2018-06-27T19:48:47Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Interesting. May I ask that posters, if they don’t mind, note if they are American-raised? > > I’m surprised that “everyone” doesn’t know it. Maybe it’s an East Coast thing. > > ETA: Reminds me of another favorite inquiry, finding out from my wife Things They Say in Brooklyn Only. I was brung up in New Jersey, in the New York Metropolitan area in the 1960s. I also lived in the Boston area (and am back there now), various places in upstate New York, and for a while in Salt Lake City. Believe me, this is NOT an “East Coast Thing” ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/44 "2018-06-27T19:56:47Z")
> [@senoy](#): > > Neither jag nor jag-off is particularly more hostile than any other insult and it’s probably a milder one as insults go. I remember reading about “jag” as a uniquely Pittsburghian term from a book about the 1970s Steelers. ---
**Author:** ![OldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3bc359/32.png) [@OldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldGuy)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/45 "2018-06-27T19:57:12Z")
I grew up in the eastern suburbs of Cleveland OH. The only one I ever heard was “Two hairs past a freckle, eastern elbow time.” It was said while pretending to look at a watch which very few kids wore. ---
**Author:** ![D18](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c57346/32.png) [@D18](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D18)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 8:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/46 "2018-06-27T20:04:17Z")
Turns out “It’s half-past kissing time/And time to kiss again!” comes from [a poem](https://www.poemhunter.com/poem/kissing-time/) by Eugene Field. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/47 "2018-06-27T20:17:54Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > 😕 “yinz”? Short for “you 'uns” (you ones). It’s a Pittsburgh thing, mostly. Wikipedia seems to have a page for almost everything these days. > **[Yinz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yinz)** > > Yinz (see § History and usage below for other spellings) is a second-person plural pronoun used mainly in Western Pennsylvania English. It is most prominent in Pittsburgh, but it is also found throughout the cultural region known as Appalachia, located within the geographical region of the Appalachians. > Yinz is the most recent derivation from the original Scots-Irish form you ones or yous ones, a form of the second-person plural that is commonly heard in parts of Ulster. In the first- and third-... > [@senoy](#): > > Whereabouts? I’m from Mo’town. Grew up in the mountains though. Grew up in Wheeling. Went to college in Mo’town (Morgantown for you confused non-natives). ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/48 "2018-06-27T20:21:51Z")
Southwestern Ontario, Canada here. The freckle one, yes; the others, no. ---
**Author:** ![engineer\_comp\_geek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/engineer_comp_geek/32/504_2.png) [@engineer\_comp\_geek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/engineer_comp_geek)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/49 "2018-06-27T20:25:51Z")
> [@Leo\_Bloom](#): > > Is this derived from “jag-off” and is (I presume) less hostile? Again, wikipedia has a page for almost everything. > **[Jagoff](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagoff)** > > Jagoff or jag-off is an American English derogatory slang term from Pittsburghese meaning a person who is a jerk, stupid or inept. It is most prominent in the Pittsburgh area and Pennsylvania in general, along with wide use in the City of Chicago, > particularly in the Irish taverns. The Dictionary of American Regional English defines the term as a "general term of disparagement". It is an archetypical Pittsburgh word, conjuring feelings of delight among Pittsburgh expatriates. The According to B... > [@wikipedia](#): > > It is derived from the verb “to jag”. which means “to prick or poke”.[7] Johnstone said that among local Pittsburghers, “Nobody thinks of these derivatives of ‘jag’ as obscene”,[7] though non-local fellow Americans often mishear “jagoff” as the much more offensive slang term “jack off”. More info on Pittsburgh-speak here: > **[Western Pennsylvania English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Pennsylvania_English)** > > Western Pennsylvania English, known more narrowly as Pittsburgh English or popularly as Pittsburghese, is a dialect of American English native primarily to the western half of Pennsylvania, centered on the city of Pittsburgh, but potentially appearing in some speakers as far north as Erie County, as far west as Youngstown, Ohio, and as far south as Clarksburg, West Virginia. Commonly associated with the working class of Pittsburgh, users of the dialect are colloquially known as "Yinzers". T Scots... We also often don’t use “to be” where other folks around the U.S. do. Example: We would say “your place needs renovated” where most others around the U.S. would say “your place needs to be renovated”. I thought this was just normal grammar, if a bit slangy, and had no idea that this was a Pittsburgh-ism until someone (many years ago) on the SDMB pointed it out. > **[Pittsburghese Expertise: Dropping “To Be”](http://theglassblock.com/2016/07/07/pittsburghese-expertise-dropping-to-be/)** > > In the first of a new series examining the different facets of our local lingo, CMU linguist Barbara Johnstone provides a deeper insight into the Pittsburghese pattern of dropping “to be.R… ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 9:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/50 "2018-06-27T21:13:35Z")
> [@kenobi\_65](#): > > I remember reading about “jag” as a uniquely Pittsburghian term from a book about the 1970s Steelers. IT’s used here in the Chicago area, too. I mean, Chicagoans and Pittsburghers both love their word “jagoff,” but we also use the shortened form “jag” around here. I always grew up thinking both expressions were uniquely Chicagoan, but then found out Pittsburghers also have fair claim to it. “Jag,” though, just doesn’t give me the visceral pleasure that sounding out both syllables of “jagoff” does. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2018, 10:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/51 "2018-06-27T22:50:24Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Cleveland born and bred, with roots in western PA. I’ve never heard the kissing one. I have heard the freckle one and the ass/balls one, but I think the animal for the latter was a monkey, not a cow or a horse. Same. ---
**Author:** ![One\_Swell\_FlooP](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/c5a1d2/32.png) [@One\_Swell\_FlooP](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/One_Swell_FlooP)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/52 "2018-06-28T03:16:55Z")
I grew up in the New York City area. I have never heard of the kissing one until this thread (although D18 appears to have found a source). I vaguely recall the hair/freckle one, but don’t remember the exact wording. However, I do remember discussing with a friend whether it was “Half past the cow’s ass, a quarter to his balls”, or “Half past the cow’s ass according to his balls”. I remember I drew a clock face showing each variant. ---
**Author:** ![Birki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e36b37/32.png) [@Birki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birki)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 5:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/53 "2018-06-28T05:21:30Z")
> [@engineer\_comp\_geek](#): > > Again, wikipedia has a page for almost everything. > [Jagoff - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagoff) > > More info on Pittsburgh-speak here: > [Western Pennsylvania English - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Western_Pennsylvania_English) > > We also often don’t use “to be” where other folks around the U.S. do. Example: We would say “your place needs renovated” where most others around the U.S. would say “your place needs to be renovated”. I thought this was just normal grammar, if a bit slangy, and had no idea that this was a Pittsburgh-ism until someone (many years ago) on the SDMB pointed it out. > [Pittsburghese Expertise: Dropping “To Be” – The Glassblock](http://theglassblock.com/2016/07/07/pittsburghese-expertise-dropping-to-be/) My husband and his family say this too and they are from the Midwest (Iowa). Thankfully in over 20 years here I haven’t really heard anyone else use it because it drives me nuts and sounds extremely uneducated to me. Their only possible connection to Pennsylvania may be that his mom’s side of the family is a type of Mennonite and his grandmother spoke some form of German/Pennsylvania Dutch, but that influence isn’t anywhere near Pittsburgh. As for the sayings in the OP, I grew up in New England in the 70’s and 80’s and absolutely never heard the kissing one. Some version of half past a freckle sounds vaguely familiar, but nothing related to cow parts. Neither the kissing phrase nor the cow parts phrase sounds at all appropriate to use in this day and age. Regardless, cows don’t have balls, so the phrase is inaccurate to use even for those not offended by it. ---
**Author:** ![bob\_2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bob_2/32/3341_2.png) [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 12:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/54 "2018-06-28T12:26:29Z")
“Two hairs past wrist” for the time. “A wimwam to wind up the moon” for “what’s that?/What are you making?” ---
**Author:** ![brossa](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/brossa/32/3040_2.png) [@brossa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brossa)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/55 "2018-06-28T15:02:37Z")
Raised in Wisconsin in the 70’s/80’s. Never heard about ‘kissing time’. “Half past a monkey’s ass, a quarter to his _knee_” “Two freckles past the wart” Not _yinz_, but _youse guys_ pronounced yoos gize, as in “Yoos gize from around here, and so?” Alternately, " 'n them", as in “Pat 'n them came by last night.” [Bubbler](https://www.reddit.com/r/MapPorn/comments/2d52f4/what_do_you_call_that_thing_you_drink_water_from/). ---
**Author:** ![TruCelt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/trucelt/32/523_2.png) [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/56 "2018-06-28T16:16:49Z")
Northern VA - near DC (with parental influences from GA and NH) Heard the freckle/hair one in reference to a watchless wrist. Maybe once or twice, wasn’t common. I’ve never heard any of the animal ones, or anything similar. I have heard “half-past lunch” meaning “I’m seriously hungry, let’s go!” ---
**Author:** ![burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/burpo_the_wonder_mutt/32/365_2.png) [@burpo\_the\_wonder\_mutt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/burpo_the_wonder_mutt)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2018, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/57 "2018-06-28T16:33:03Z")
Raised in the Mid-Atlantic area and have never heard the OP’s version. “…monkey’s ass, etc.” was our go-to (Catholic elementary school). ---
**Author:** ![doreen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/858c86/32.png) [@doreen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/doreen)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/58 "2018-06-29T04:06:06Z")
Born, raised and still live in NYC. Never heard the kissing one, or the freckle one. I remember “half past a cow’s ass, quarter to his balls” but there was another line, something about a waterfall. ---
**Author:** ![HenryG](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/eb8c5e/32.png) [@HenryG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HenryG)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/59 "2018-06-29T06:52:25Z")
What time is it? - “Three hairs past the pimple” (UK, 1960s) ---
**Author:** ![Ace309](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ace309/32/1050_2.png) [@Ace309](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ace309)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2018, 9:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849/60 "2018-06-29T09:05:36Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Upstate New York. Never heard any of them. Also my response. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/half-past-kissing-time-time-to-kiss-again-how-widespread-other-language-equivalents/816849.md?page=4)