# Is “American hour” an expression in the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 22, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638 "2022-10-22T18:07:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/1 "2022-10-22T18:07:29Z")
I’m watching a football match between Chelsea and Manchester United and the announce said “a quarter of an American hour left to go.” Does this mean something other than 15 minutes? How is the expression used? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/2 "2022-10-22T18:13:34Z")
I’ve never heard it, but i don’t watch football so maybe it’s a football thing. ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/3 "2022-10-22T18:20:26Z")
Maybe it’s a product placement thing? [https://www.theamericanhour.com/](https://www.theamericanhour.com/) ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/4 "2022-10-22T18:30:49Z")
I rewound and the exact quote was “And so, a quarter of an American hour now for Christian Pulisic.” The context was that Pulisic, who is an American, was coming in as a substitute with 15 minutes left in the match. Maybe the announcer meant to say “And so, a quarter of an hour now for the American, Christian Pulisic” and just got his words out of order. ---
**Author:** ![Folly](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/folly/32/3219_2.png) [@Folly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Folly)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/5 "2022-10-22T18:50:03Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > but i don’t watch football Is that even legal in the UK? ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/6 "2022-10-22T19:02:44Z")
I don’t know, but if anyone asks, i can probably talk enough utter bollocks about it to convince most people ! ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/7 "2022-10-22T19:05:26Z")
But not yet, not in this Factual Questions topic, at least not until a few sincere attempts at a factual answer. Which is a shame, because I had a dad joke about metric timekeeping queued up. ---
**Author:** ![griffin1977](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/977dab/32.png) [@griffin1977](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/griffin1977)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/8 "2022-10-22T19:21:06Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I rewound and the exact quote was “And so, a quarter of an American hour now for Christian Pulisic.” The context was that Pulisic, who is an American, was coming in as a substitute with 15 minutes left in the match. > > Maybe the announcer meant to say “And so, a quarter of an hour now for the American, Christian Pulisic” and just got his words out of order. This seems the likely answer. I was gonna guess they are saying there was a lot injury time due. Hence it would be a “15 minutes” like an American sport, where 15 minutes can mean anything up to an hour with time outs and ad breaks. But I’m not sure your average British football fan would be aware of just how slow American sports are. ---
**Author:** ![Nyvaak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Nyvaak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nyvaak)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/9 "2022-10-22T19:25:20Z")
Perhaps an American hour is made up of 60 New York minutes. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/10 "2022-10-22T19:26:46Z")
Brilliant! ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/11 "2022-10-22T19:39:08Z")
It is defintely not a well used or known UK phrase. I’ve never heard it used anywhere and it seems highly likely that it was merely a mangled sentence that referenced the player’s nationality. ---
**Author:** ![Nars\_Glinley](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nars_glinley/32/8177_2.png) [@Nars\_Glinley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nars_Glinley)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/12 "2022-10-22T19:43:32Z")
> [@gnoitall](#): > > Which is a shame, because I had a dad joke about metric timekeeping queued up. There’s no time like the present. ---
**Author:** ![Charlie\_Tan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charlie_tan/32/12582_2.png) [@Charlie\_Tan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Charlie_Tan)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/13 "2022-10-22T19:43:58Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > But I’m not sure your average British football fan would be aware of just how slow American sports are. When we get Football and Baseball, it’s almost never live (some channel will pony up for the SB every year) and always edited. Having lived in the US, not too far from Wrigley Field, I know how long a Baseball game can last. Hockey and Basketball have bigger audiences here, especially hockey, so we get more live games. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/14 "2022-10-22T21:15:40Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I was gonna guess they are saying there was a lot injury time due. Hence it would be a “15 minutes” like an American sport, where 15 minutes can mean anything up to an hour with time outs and ad breaks. But I’m not sure your average British football fan would be aware of just how slow American sports are. Yeah, that would have been my guess - that the intent was ‘a quarter of an hour of game time, which might play out over a fair bit longer than that in elapsed time owing to stops and starts’ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/15 "2022-10-22T21:21:55Z")
> [@Charlie\_Tan](#): > > When we get Football and Baseball, it’s almost never live (some channel will pony up for the SB every year) and always edited. Having lived in the US, not too far from Wrigley Field, I know how long a Baseball game can last. Baseball, like cricket, doesn’t even have a nominal time. Each inning takes as long as it takes to get three outs on each side, and the game takes however long nine innings take (or more, if it’s tied after nine). A baseball game has never lasted as long as the longest cricket games, but there’s no inherent reason it couldn’t. Football games nominally last for 60 minutes, but there’s so much time spent on the field without the clock running that two or three hours are more typical (longer for games at a high enough level to be televised). ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2022, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/16 "2022-10-22T22:02:47Z")
I have only heard the term in Argentina. It meant to arrive at the time specified. ---
**Author:** ![gnoitall](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bb73d2/32.png) [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2022, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/17 "2022-10-23T04:00:33Z")
> [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](#): > > It meant to arrive at the time specified. In contrast to the stereotypical relaxed relationship with punctuality Hispanic cultures are often painted with? ---
**Author:** ![JeffB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeffb/32/188_2.png) [@JeffB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JeffB)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2022, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/18 "2022-10-23T06:31:02Z")
> [@griffin1977](#): > > I was gonna guess they are saying there was a lot injury time due. Hence it would be a “15 minutes” like an American sport, where 15 minutes can mean anything up to an hour with time outs and ad breaks. But I’m not sure your average British football fan would be aware of just how slow American sports are. That wasn’t it. Pulisic came up in the 74th minute, so 16 minutes left in regulation time, and there wasn’t that much added time expected. I’m pretty sure it was just a mangled sentence. I watch quite a bit of Premier League matches, and I’ve never heard the term “American hour” before (and didn’t even hear it during this match). ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2022, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/19 "2022-10-23T12:11:32Z")
> [@Nars\_Glinley](#): > > I rewound and the exact quote was “And so, a quarter of an American hour now for Christian Pulisic.” The context was that Pulisic, who is an American, was coming in as a substitute with 15 minutes left in the match. I agree it was a mangled wording, but I think in a slightly different way. My guess: he was trying to be cute with “American Hour” as the time when the American plays, similar to how we might say “it’s amateur hour.” And since it’s only fifteen minutes, it’s a quarter of American Hour. ---
**Author:** ![Treppenwitz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treppenwitz/32/3445_2.png) [@Treppenwitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Treppenwitz)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2022, 3:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638/20 "2022-10-23T15:25:12Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Baseball, like cricket, doesn’t even have a nominal time… Not sure what you mean about cricket here. If you are suggesting that it just goes on without a time limit until the game is over, that’s not the case. All professional games have a limit of time (usually 3, 4 or 5 days) or deliveries (overs bowled or balls bowled); you do sometimes see a combination of overs and time used. Lower level games are of shorter duration but follow a broadly similar pattern. However, in the past…[Timeless Test - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeless_Test) > Until World War II all Tests in Australia were timeless. Only two of these matches were drawn, both against England in 1882, when the matches had to be left unfinished owing to shipping schedules. Drawn = ran out of time to complete the match. j [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-american-hour-an-expression-in-the-uk/973638.md?page=2)