# Time expression: "Quarter of" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 23, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105 "2010-10-23T16:24:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/1 "2010-10-23T16:24:30Z")
This is a straightforward question, but I couldn’t find anything on Google. Stephen King’s books often uses the phrase “quarter of” when giving the time, for example “quarter of three”. Does this mean “quarter to three” or “quarter past three”? Also, is this just a New England phrase? I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard it anywhere else. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/2 "2010-10-23T16:30:21Z")
It means 15 minute to[the hour]. I grew up in California, born 1960, heard and used that way all my life. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/3 "2010-10-23T16:35:35Z")
People used “quarter of” in West Texas when I was growing up, but not exclusively. Other variations were used, too. ---
**Author:** ![california\_jobcase](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9d8465/32.png) [@california\_jobcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/california_jobcase)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/4 "2010-10-23T16:36:22Z")
I have never figured out how “a quarter of eight” can mean 7:45. A quarter of eight is two. ---
**Author:** ![njtt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ecd19e/32.png) [@njtt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/njtt)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/5 "2010-10-23T16:40:46Z")
Seconded that it is common in California, and just for “quarter.” You also hear things like “ten of [i.e., to] eight,” “five of four,” etc. (although I understand that 7 of 9 is something quite different). I am British, and when I first came to California I noticed it a lot (“Quarter of four? 😕 You mean one?”), but I have gotten used to it now. I assumed it was a general USAian thing, like calling trousers “pants,” but maybe not. I guess if I hear an American say “quarter to four” it sounds normal so I just don’t notice it. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/6 "2010-10-23T16:41:35Z")
Quarter of, to, till three = 2:45. Quarter after, past three = 3:15. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/7 "2010-10-23T16:42:51Z")
> [@california\_jobcase](#): > > I have never figured out how “a quarter of eight” can mean 7:45. A quarter of eight is two. Not in Metric. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/8 "2010-10-23T17:05:25Z")
So, is the “bottom half” of the hour the half from :30 to :60 or the half from :15 to :45? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/9 "2010-10-23T17:08:41Z")
> [@Kiyoshi](#): > > This is a straightforward question, but I couldn’t find anything on Google. > > Stephen King’s books often uses the phrase “quarter of” when giving the time, for example “quarter of three”. Does this mean “quarter to three” or “quarter past three”? > > Also, is this just a New England phrase? I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard it anywhere else. Are people really this young? In the era before digital clocks, everybody spoke this way. Have we lost all those concepts so quickly? Excuse me, I must dodder off aimlessly. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/10 "2010-10-23T17:10:32Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Are people really this young? In the era before digital clocks, everybody spoke this way. Have we lost all those concepts so quickly? I dated a girl in college who went to high school with a girl who thought “quarter past three” meant 3:25. She would have been in high school between 1982 and 1986. ---
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/11 "2010-10-23T17:10:39Z")
I didn’t understand “quarter of” until now! Then again, I’ve never heard anyone say it. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/12 "2010-10-23T17:13:05Z")
Thanks everyone. I’m surprised, I had guessed that it meant “past”. Hmm…I just realised, maybe it was originally “off” rather than “of”? “Ten off five”, for example, makes much more sense than “ten of five”. ---
**Author:** ![Kiyoshi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e19adc/32.png) [@Kiyoshi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiyoshi)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/13 "2010-10-23T17:16:05Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Are people really this young? In the era before digital clocks, everybody spoke this way. Have we lost all those concepts so quickly? > > Excuse me, I must dodder off aimlessly. Don’t worry about being old just yet! It’s a question of location, not age. I only know the words “to” and “past”. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/14 "2010-10-23T17:29:42Z")
It’s quarter to three, there’s no one in the place except you and me… So make it one for my baby and one more for the road ---
**Author:** ![SeldomSeen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/7ba0ec/32.png) [@SeldomSeen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SeldomSeen)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/15 "2010-10-23T17:40:47Z")
I’ve heard “quarter of” used all my life here in the Western U.S., mostly by older people. Always thought it was kind of a generalization, a foreshortened way of saying “it is within a quarter-hour of 3:00 pm” (or whatever). SS ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/16 "2010-10-23T17:43:40Z")
I was born and raised in Southern California, and I heard ‘quarter of’ frequently. Myself, I used ‘quarter to’. I wonder if the usage is related to German? ‘Quarter of’ indicates a quarter of an hour until the next (stated) hour. In German, 30 minutes before the next hour is said by _halb_ (‘half’) and the next hour. So 0730 would be ‘halb acht’. (For other increments they use _vor_ – ‘before’ – and _nach_ – ‘after’. e.g., 0845 is _Viertel vor neun_ or 1011 is _Elf nack zehn_.) ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/17 "2010-10-23T17:50:22Z")
Note that quarter of the hour is just the specific case. It’s also common to hear other references - Ten of the hour, Five of the hour (or five of three), etc. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/18 "2010-10-23T17:52:51Z")
> [@beowulff](#): > > Note that quarter of the hour is just the specific case. It’s also common to hear other references - Ten of the hour, Five of the hour (or five of three), etc. And a German would probably say _Zehn Uhr elf_ instead of _Elf nach zehn_. (Not that that has anything to do with the OP.) ---
**Author:** ![Slithy\_Tove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slithy_tove/32/18248_2.png) [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/19 "2010-10-23T17:58:26Z")
Upper Midwestern - when my mom was a girl the town still had a German newspaper; but never heard “of,” only “tuh.” ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [October 23, 2010, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105/20 "2010-10-23T18:06:15Z")
AFAIK, it is standard throughout the US. On the other hand, “quarter to” is also used and understood, but much less common. One of the things I had to unlearn when moving to Canada was not to say “quarter of”, since I would be asked whether that was “quarter to” or “quarter after/past”. In the 42 years since, it is much better understood, doubtless owing to TV. Another one, of course, was “zed” instead of “zee”, but “zee” is also more widely understood now. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/time-expression-quarter-of/558105.md?page=2)