So yesterday morning I was dropping off a movie at Blockbuster in Cameron Village. As I'm getting into my car, a teenage girl of about 17 yells across the street "Hey, you know what time it is?"

I'm like, "It's quarter of eight"
She goes "So it's near eight o clock?"
I didn't think she heard me well, so I repeated "It's quarter of eight"
She says, "I don't know what that means...that mean it's close to eight?"
I reply "That means it's 7:45"
"Ohhhhh......"

Am I mistaken, but don't most kids learn that in second and third grade?

5/17/2008 9:09:13 AM

a quarter ?

why da fuk i need a quarter for ?

5/17/2008 9:10:46 AM

well to be fair it IS a dated metaphor

5/17/2008 9:10:58 AM

was she hot?

5/17/2008 9:12:30 AM

Nah, she was actually a little on the trashy side

5/17/2008 9:13:33 AM

I likes my women a little on... the trashy side!!!

5/17/2008 9:14:23 AM

id wonder what they would say if they saw one of these.




[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 9:16 AM. Reason : lost]

5/17/2008 9:14:42 AM

these kids can't read a traditional clock

5/17/2008 9:15:02 AM

Yes, a dark complextion

5/17/2008 9:15:44 AM

a quarter of eight = 2, dumbass OP

5/17/2008 9:16:02 AM

(1/4)*8= 2

5/17/2008 9:17:55 AM

Son las ocho menos quince

5/17/2008 9:19:51 AM

"of" means +/- to me. quarter til or quarter passed would have been more descriptive, however both are "near" 4

5/17/2008 9:25:11 AM

while I know what a "quarter of ..." means, I don't think I have ever heard anyone use this phrase.



Ever

5/17/2008 9:39:18 AM

We were taught in school to say "quarter to eight" not this "of" bullshit. You probably would have confused me too.


Quarter to
Quarter past
Half past

5/17/2008 9:50:51 AM

^ I agree with that. I always thought "of" was stupid.

5/17/2008 9:57:38 AM

You guys are crazy. Quarter of is just as easy to decipher as quarter to. It's way different than quarter past. If you couldn't deduce what I meant that's pretty sad, and the girl had no idea what quarter anything meant.

5/17/2008 9:58:01 AM

Seven forty-five.

Problem solved.

5/17/2008 10:03:45 AM

Quote :

"Quarter of is just as easy to decipher as quarter to"

If you've heard it before, sure. But if you haven't, and there's no real reason that you HAVE to have heard it, it wouldn't make much sense. It's not literal, so if you hear it for the first time it could easily be confusing.

5/17/2008 10:03:54 AM

Quote :

" I agree with that. I always thought "of" was stupid."

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 10:28 AM. Reason : ]

5/17/2008 10:28:25 AM

who hasn't heard this before

5/17/2008 10:30:34 AM

I have in books, just not in regular usage.

5/17/2008 10:32:31 AM

"quarter of" is a stupid phrase anyway, I'm glad our kids aren't learning it.

Quote :

"a quarter of eight = 2"

exactly

Quote :

""of" means +/- to me. quarter til or quarter passed would have been more descriptive, however both are "near" 4"

So if someone asked you "What's one half of 12" you would say 11.5?

[Edited on May 17, 2008 at 10:45 AM. Reason : ]

5/17/2008 10:44:36 AM

6

5/17/2008 10:45:58 AM

^^ no, as this reference has the context of time. so if someone said half of 11, I'd be unsure if they meant halfway through the 11th hour of the day (11:30) or if they meant half of the hour leading to 11, 10:30. both are silly, antiquated phrases

5/17/2008 11:35:02 AM

And at least she was honest in saying "I don't know what that means." Most kids in the public school system would take the "fuck you have a nice day" stance.

5/17/2008 11:36:06 AM

i always give then the time twice. i say thhe closest 15 minute mark, then the real time


jackleg, what time is it??

7:45.... 7:52 really

kids in public school don't know it because its not on the EOG tests after like grade 2. and teachers today cant waste time actually teaching kids. they just have to sand off the rough edges and get em ready for the next teacher

5/17/2008 12:17:31 PM

Quote :

"Seven forty-five. Problem solved."

This is one syllable longer than that "quarter of eight" bullshit. It always gets on my nerves when people use the "quarter" system when telling time. Whats the point?

5/17/2008 12:29:11 PM

My dad uses it to sound brainy.

5/17/2008 12:31:17 PM

WHY THE FUCK DID YOU NOT JUST SAY "SEVEN FORTY FIVE" INSTEAD OF SOUNDING LIKE A DUMBASS.

5/17/2008 12:42:57 PM

OH YEAH AND THE QUARTER THING IS PROBABLY READY TO BE LET GO SINCE CLOCS ARE DIGITAL

5/17/2008 12:43:55 PM

I always thought "of" was stupid.

5/17/2008 12:58:17 PM

Quote :

"This is one syllable longer than that "quarter of eight" bullshit."

no it's not. se'en forty five

5/17/2008 1:00:00 PM

damn y'all are whiney

5/17/2008 1:01:06 PM

Kids don't know how to read time now. They only know digital clocks

5/17/2008 1:13:17 PM

The failings of our public school system?

More like 'I guess their phasing out the quarters/halves of hours in the public school system'

Also, that trashy girl could have just been one of those students that day dreams in class instead of paying attention. That's not the school systems fault.

5/17/2008 1:15:18 PM

I knew it meant 7:45, but it was always weird to me.

Shouldn't the of be possessive and the eight possessing it making it 8:15.

5/17/2008 1:19:11 PM

Quote :

"its not on the EOG tests after like grade 2"

5/17/2008 1:28:07 PM

a quarter til eight



nothing to do with the school system.

5/17/2008 1:31:23 PM