Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
half 12
English answer:
half past noon, or half past midnight
Added to glossary by
Charlesp
Apr 23, 2023 07:32
1 yr ago
45 viewers *
English term
half 12
Non-PRO
English
Other
General / Conversation / Greetings / Letters
In British English, say London, what does "half 12" mean?
Is this 11:30 or 12:30?
Is this 11:30 or 12:30?
Responses
| 5 +6 | 12h30 |
Mark Robertson
|
Change log
Apr 23, 2023 10:11: writeaway changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (write-in)" from "(none)" to "Telling time in UK English "
Apr 23, 2023 12:40: Charlesp changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"
Apr 24, 2023 00:09: philgoddard changed "Field" from "Art/Literary" to "Other" , "Field (write-in)" from "Telling time in UK English " to "(none)"
Responses
+6
10 mins
Mark Robertson
Native in English
&
English
Translations by lawyers for lawyers
Native in: English 
Works in: Portuguese to English, English
Related KudoZ points
:
12
Selected
12h30
That's it
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
Tony M
: Yup, 'half (past) 12' — the opposite of the DE way of doing it!
26 mins
|
| agree |
philgoddard
: And Dutch.
3 hrs
|
| agree |
Daryo
: can be a nasty trap - literally translated in Serbian (пола дван'ест) it would be 11:30.
16 hrs
|
| agree |
AllegroTrans
1 day 7 mins
|
| agree |
ROSANA TAQUES DAVID
: The word past is not there, but it does imply that it is there; but it does not mean that it could well mean half TO 12, which is 11:30.
1 day 13 hrs
|
| agree |
Nadja Wieser
1 day 22 hrs
|
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "It could be half past noon, or half past midnight -- still ambiguous.
12.30"
Discussion
Two people talking, and because they come from different cultures, even though they are speaking the same language (whatever that may be, as they switch back and forth, to see if they can resolve their dilemma by communicating in a different language) they try to understand each other, but to no avail.