General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: British schools are removing analog clocks from classrooms because kids can't read them [View all]crazycatlady
(4,492 posts)However, in the context that most (older) people are saying it, they're still rounding. When they say 'half past 3' it could be 3:37. If it is 3:37 just tell me that. What I was trying to say is 'quarter' and 'half" take me longer to process than just saying 3:37 would.
It was even more confusing when I took Spanish because telling time in Spanish is always the 'quarter to' type and not the exact time. I have a hard enough processing 'quarter to' in my own language, let alone another.
Ever since middle school, nothing ever started at typical times. From (then) my class schedule (first bell was 7:42) to public transportation to flights, we don't operate by rounding to the nearest 5/10 minutes. Showing up to class at 7:45 instead of 7:42 would have landed me in detention. Showing up a minute late for a train/bus means that you'll probably miss it.