"Five of Nine" equals what time?

[CZroe]

My sister keeps telling me times in a way I've never heard anyone else do it. She said that we'll be leaving "I don't know, five of nine?" earlier. Because I've never heard anyone else give a time like that, my first inclination is to think that it's just her and no one else talks like that, but she acts like it's self-explanatory when as far as I know she's just mis-stating it and means something else... like "5 to/'til 9" (8:55). In the example above ("5 of 9"), I don't know what she means by "of" so I can't possibly know if she means 5 'til or 5 after. She certainly isn't saying "5 divided by 9." Obviously, I suspect that it may be terminology she picked up elsewhere, hence this thread.

Edit: OK, so it's a regional idiom in the USA and one that can't possibly be understood by those who haven't heard it without prior explanation... unlike "'til/till," "before," or "to" which, therefore, I would argue are not idioms. Regardless, there are those in this thread who think that not only are all three idioms, but that "of" is the more dominant, correct, or more frequently used/understood idiom. It just BLOWS THEIR MIND that the majority of people don't understand it and they refuse to believe that there is anything wrong with forcing it on the rest of the USA (they aren't understood by the majority of the English-speaking world). These people are INSANE. I can't believe this poll is required, but I'm adding it.

 

[wiredspider]

8:55

 

[JulesMaximus]

Why don't you ask her?

I take it to mean 5 minutes until 9...or 8:55.

 

[Bulk Beef]

You are incorrect.

 

[Cyco]

Eight schfifty five

 

[spidey07]

Just when you think you've seen everything, threads like this pop up.

Have you never heard "quarter of nine"?

 

[newb111]

8:55

 

[amdhunter]

Maybe she's a Borg?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: CZroe
I think it's just her and no one else talks like that

Everyone in NJ uses that idiom. When I went to college in Indiana, some people were confused by it. They all say "quarter till __"

 

[SlitheryDee]

I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

 

[Connoisseur]

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: CZroe
I think it's just her and no one else talks like that

Everyone in NJ uses that idiom. When I went to college in Indiana, some people were confused by it. They all say "quarter till __"

i've heard maybe 2 ppl use it in all the years i've lived in NJ. I think it's just crazy people not restricted by geography.

 

[JEDIYoda]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

you are way too funny.....but you will learn how to tell time in kindergarten!!

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

Nope. :shocked:

And, anyway, the ninth hour ends @ 9:00, and everything after is the ninth hour PLUS some minutes -- just like your first year of life ends on your first birthday, when you are finally 1 year old.

 

[CZroe]

Originally posted by: spidey07
Just when you think you've seen everything, threads like this pop up.

Have you never heard "quarter of nine"?

Conclusively: NO. Not until I came across the entire country to live with her and even then I have only heard HER express time this way, though I have heard her express it to others this way. My [suggestion]? Don't use it. Use something more universally understood, like "5 'till 9." I don't think I've ever heard it on TV or in movies either, even though you hear [other] regional things all the time (like "pop" for soft drink[/soda]).

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

That's what I was thinking but the last time my sister expressed a time this way and I asked her if my interpretation was correct she acted like I was wrong and then just frustratedly repeated it the way she originally said it like it was self explanatory.

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: CZroe
I think it's just her and no one else talks like that

Everyone in NJ uses that idiom. When I went to college in Indiana, some people were confused by it. They all say "quarter till __"

Because "A quarter of an hour until X" actually *means* something. "This of That" in word problems indicates a ratio or division. Just what are we dividing with "[5 of 9]?"

 

[meltdown75]

FFS, just say 9. five minutes is horse shit.

 

[maddogchen]

Originally posted by: amdhunter
Maybe she's a Borg?

Thats what I was thinking too Seven of Nine?

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: CZroe

Originally posted by: mugs

Originally posted by: CZroe
I think it's just her and no one else talks like that

Everyone in NJ uses that idiom. When I went to college in Indiana, some people were confused by it. They all say "quarter till __"

Because "A quarter of an hour until X" actually *means* something. "This of That" in word problems indicates a ratio or division. Just what are we dividing?a

Like I said, it's an idiom.

 

[JDub02]

more importantly, what about "25 or 6 to 4"???

 

[SlitheryDee]

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

Nope. :shocked:

And, anyway, the ninth hour ends @ 9:00, and everything after is the ninth hour PLUS some minutes -- just like your first year of life ends on your first birthday, when you are finally 1 year old.

Ahhhh, makes sense. Like how we're in the 2000s and also the 21st century.

 

[Anubis]

it means the same as 5 till 9


FFS are you like 5?

 

[txrandom]

Originally posted by: Anubis
it means the same as 5 till 9


FFS are you like 5 of 9?

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee

Originally posted by: Perknose

Originally posted by: SlitheryDee
I thought it was 9:05, as in five minutes of the hour nine.

Nope. :shocked:

And, anyway, the ninth hour ends @ 9:00, and everything after is the ninth hour PLUS some minutes -- just like your first year of life ends on your first birthday, when you are finally 1 year old.

Ahhhh, makes sense. Like how we're in the 2000s and also the 21st century.

Yup! :thumbsup:

 

[clamum]

I've never heard "of" in reference to time. Usually "to"... quarter to 9, etc.

 

[Turin39789]

5 minutes short of 9


I use "till" or "to" , but I know what "of" means

 

[Perknose]

Originally posted by: CZroe
Because "A quarter of an hour until X" actually *means* something. "This of That" in word problems indicates a ratio or division. Just what are we dividing?a

It's an American idiom. In fact, it is the DOMINANT American way of expressing minutes before an hour. Your "logic" makes you look stupid.

I didn't make this up. <--------------- :shocked:

Since you live in this country, you need to get along with the rest of us. <------- :shocked:

You'd have a hell of a lot easier time of it here. <--------------- :shocked:

See where I'm going with this? :laugh:

Time-telling

Fifteen minutes after the hour is called quarter past in British usage and a quarter after or, less commonly, a quarter past in American usage. Fifteen minutes before the hour is usually called quarter to in British usage and a quarter of, a quarter to or a quarter till in American usage; the form a quarter to is associated with parts of the Northern United States, while a quarter till is found chiefly in the Appalachian region. Thirty minutes after the hour is commonly called half past in both BrE and AmE. In informal British speech, the preposition is sometimes omitted, so that 5:30 may be referred to as half five. Half after used to be more common in the US.

Just because you've led a woefully sheltered life doesn't mean you get to impose your limited linguistic parochialism on others.