"HankG" no_one@invalid wrote in message
...

I'm from the EAST (PA & NJ). All of the above (Radio Flyer's) examples
have
been and are still used. I think they are 'age' related, not regionally
related.

HankG

I am sure that age may have something to do with it, but I have lived in all
of those places, and those are generally how they are used. But like I said,
you will hear any of them anywhere, but some are used more in some places.

wrote:

I was in my twenties before I doped out that a fifth of
whiskey meant a fifth of a gallon.


Not the right one. A twenty-sixer is a roughly a fifth of the US (128
ounces) gallon. The proper Gallon has 160 ounces.

26 liquid ounces is roughly 750 cc, or 3/4 liter.




mike

BDK wrote:


How old are you? I can't believe anyone over 25 hasn't
heard the term before. As others have posted, a
"quarter" is 15 minutes, AKA 1/4 of an hour...



The original poster's problem was not with the word "quarter", but with
the word "of". The phrase "a quarter of nine" is completely
meaningless... what exactly is one-fourth of nine o'clock, anyway?
9:15? But "a quarter of nine" actually means 8:45.

On Mon, 15 Nov 2004 21:56:31 -0600, Tony Calguire
wrote:

BDK wrote:


How old are you? I can't believe anyone over 25 hasn't
heard the term before. As others have posted, a
"quarter" is 15 minutes, AKA 1/4 of an hour...



The original poster's problem was not with the word "quarter", but with
the word "of". The phrase "a quarter of nine" is completely
meaningless...

Meaningless??? I always understood it as meaning within a
quarter hour of being nine o'clock.

what exactly is one-fourth of nine o'clock, anyway?
9:15? But "a quarter of nine" actually means 8:45.

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 11:34:01 +1300, "Mark" wrote:

Your post raises an interesting topic. The relation between the sun, a
compass and an analogue watch (or clock) is an equation. If you have any two
of these three items, the third can be determined.

For example, if you can see the sun, and you are wearing an analogue watch,
you can determine true North. Or, if you have a compass, and you can see the
sun, you can determine what time it is.

This is far from exact, based on the equation of time, which
is not reflected on the watch. Local solar time, mean solar time and
zone time are all different from each other.


Remember, that it is a watch or clock that is used to determine longitude
also. First, you set your watch to midday exactly as the sun reaches the
highest point in the sky (Note: your watch is now set to sidereal time and
not mean time).

Actually it's set to solar time. A solar day does not
correspond exactly to a sidereal day, so solar and siderial 00:00
drift with respect to each other.


Next, sail (for simplicity) due East. Next day, when the sun is at its
highest, see what the time is on your watch. Let's say its 11 o'clock. Then
you have travelled 15 degrees East of where you started (remembering that
360 degrees of longitude divided by 24 hours is 15 degrees per hour).

No navigator would be seen without his/her analogue watch!

Finally, a question: There is a time zone in the world which is set to UTC.
And there are 12 times zones which are ahead of UTC (+1, +2, etc) (and, yes,
some partial hour variations too). And there's 12 timezones which are less
than UTC (-1, -2, etc). That adds up to 25 time zones. Yet there's only 24
hours in a day! What's going on? (Hint: the timezone at my location holds
the answer)

Mark.
Auckland, New Zealand, which is currently UTC + 13 hours.




"uncle arnie" &mex. wrote in message
...
Thanks, you gave me the origin of this as well as the meaning by this
post.

I imagine we could also do some other terms too.

On Sun, 14 Nov 2004 12:14 pm, Al Patrick posted
to
rec.radio.shortwave: %MM

Ace,

I knew YOU knew. I wasn't too sure about the party asking the original
question. ;-)

Al

=========

dxAce wrote:

Al Patrick wrote:


The "Quarter of" / "Quarter till" and "Quarter past" / "Quarter
after"
that dxAce and Keyboard in the Wilderness have mentioned refer to a
"Quarter" of an hour.


Well... yes, that's exactly what 15 minutes is!



dxAce wrote:


uncle arnie wrote:



I've never heard this before. What does "quarter of 10" mean? Is
this
before 10 or after 10? I thought it was my hearing until this was
repeated. "quarter to" and "quarter after", rarely "quarter past"
are
all
usual ways of saying this around here. Though digital clocks make it
"ten fifteen". I think this must be a regionalism or slang for
somewhere in the USA (?).

I also hear "zulu" said instead of UTC (or the old GMT).


Quarter of 10 means 15 minutes to 10.

Zulu is used the same as UTC and GMT. Zulu is more of a military term.

dxAce
Michigan
USA

On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 01:44:51 GMT, m II
wrote:

wrote:

I was in my twenties before I doped out that a fifth of
whiskey meant a fifth of a gallon.


Not the right one. A twenty-sixer is a roughly a fifth of the US (128
ounces) gallon. The proper Gallon has 160 ounces.

26 liquid ounces is roughly 750 cc, or 3/4 liter.

I wasn't buying it in Canada. The bottles were clearly marked
as being 25.6 ounces -- one fifth of a US gallon. You can stuff the
"Proper" trolling.

It's correct and common usage..."quarter of" is the same as a "quarter
before". One of many definitions of "of" includes: Away from or
distance from.

The full sentence would be: It is one quarter of an hour before (away
from) nine hours on the clock. In the interest of brevity it becomes:
It's a quarter of nine.

Tony Calguire wrote in message ...
BDK wrote:


How old are you? I can't believe anyone over 25 hasn't
heard the term before. As others have posted, a
"quarter" is 15 minutes, AKA 1/4 of an hour...



The original poster's problem was not with the word "quarter", but with
the word "of". The phrase "a quarter of nine" is completely
meaningless... what exactly is one-fourth of nine o'clock, anyway?
9:15? But "a quarter of nine" actually means 8:45.

Yes. The +12 hours and the -12 hours are of course the same time. But on
different dates.

Mark.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


Mark wrote:

Your post raises an interesting topic. The relation between the sun, a
compass and an analogue watch (or clock) is an equation. If you have any
two
of these three items, the third can be determined.

For example, if you can see the sun, and you are wearing an analogue
watch,
you can determine true North. Or, if you have a compass, and you can see
the
sun, you can determine what time it is.

Remember, that it is a watch or clock that is used to determine
longitude
also. First, you set your watch to midday exactly as the sun reaches the
highest point in the sky (Note: your watch is now set to sidereal time
and
not mean time).

Next, sail (for simplicity) due East. Next day, when the sun is at its
highest, see what the time is on your watch. Let's say its 11 o'clock.
Then
you have travelled 15 degrees East of where you started (remembering
that
360 degrees of longitude divided by 24 hours is 15 degrees per hour).

No navigator would be seen without his/her analogue watch!

Finally, a question: There is a time zone in the world which is set to
UTC.
And there are 12 times zones which are ahead of UTC (+1, +2, etc) (and,
yes,
some partial hour variations too). And there's 12 timezones which are
less
than UTC (-1, -2, etc). That adds up to 25 time zones. Yet there's only
24
hours in a day! What's going on? (Hint: the timezone at my location
holds
the answer)

It has to do with the International Date Line, correct?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

Mark wrote:

Yes. The +12 hours and the -12 hours are of course the same time. But on
different dates.

Anything new regarding Antarctica?






Mark.

"dxAce" wrote in message
...


Mark wrote:

Your post raises an interesting topic. The relation between the sun, a
compass and an analogue watch (or clock) is an equation. If you have any
two
of these three items, the third can be determined.

For example, if you can see the sun, and you are wearing an analogue
watch,
you can determine true North. Or, if you have a compass, and you can see
the
sun, you can determine what time it is.

Remember, that it is a watch or clock that is used to determine
longitude
also. First, you set your watch to midday exactly as the sun reaches the
highest point in the sky (Note: your watch is now set to sidereal time
and
not mean time).

Next, sail (for simplicity) due East. Next day, when the sun is at its
highest, see what the time is on your watch. Let's say its 11 o'clock.
Then
you have travelled 15 degrees East of where you started (remembering
that
360 degrees of longitude divided by 24 hours is 15 degrees per hour).

No navigator would be seen without his/her analogue watch!

Finally, a question: There is a time zone in the world which is set to
UTC.
And there are 12 times zones which are ahead of UTC (+1, +2, etc) (and,
yes,
some partial hour variations too). And there's 12 timezones which are
less
than UTC (-1, -2, etc). That adds up to 25 time zones. Yet there's only
24
hours in a day! What's going on? (Hint: the timezone at my location
holds
the answer)

It has to do with the International Date Line, correct?

dxAce
Michigan
USA

wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Nov 2004 11:34:01 +1300, "Mark" wrote:

Your post raises an interesting topic. The relation between the sun, a
compass and an analogue watch (or clock) is an equation. If you have any
two
of these three items, the third can be determined.

For example, if you can see the sun, and you are wearing an analogue
watch,
you can determine true North. Or, if you have a compass, and you can see
the
sun, you can determine what time it is.

This is far from exact, based on the equation of time, which
is not reflected on the watch. Local solar time, mean solar time and
zone time are all different from each other.


Yes, you're right, its far from exact. If you want it to be exact then
you'll need the compass after all. Oh, and if you want true North then
you'll need to know the magnetic variation at your current location. And to
help you know your current location, you'll need the compass.... etc. I
suppose I was outlining a rule of thumb, perhaps to be used in an emergency
situation, or simply as an exercise to demonstrate such relationships
between the three.


Remember, that it is a watch or clock that is used to determine longitude
also. First, you set your watch to midday exactly as the sun reaches the
highest point in the sky (Note: your watch is now set to sidereal time
and
not mean time).

Actually it's set to solar time. A solar day does not
correspond exactly to a sidereal day, so solar and siderial 00:00
drift with respect to each other.


Again, thanks for the correction. Better not rely on me if you get lost!

Anyway, after re-reading all of this, I realised I have drifted off-course
and off-topic. Now, back to the radio....

Mark.
Auckland, New Zealand, which is located at 36 degrees, 52 minutes South, 174
degrees, 52 minutes East. And the magnetic variation is currently around 19
degrees, 30 minutes East.