I noticed that I and Alexa say “six ‘oh’ five a m”, but is that the correct way of saying the time? Specifically the “oh” part?
Kind of like when speaking out a phone number, how we might say “my number is one two three, six ‘oh’ six…” but really, that’s not an “oh” like the letter O even though it looks like an O, but everyone knows the person is saying “six zero six”, which is the proper way of saying that.
Edit: thanks for all the answers everyone! This was just pure curiosity for me but I really enjoyed reading everyone’s responses and learning some new things!
Everyone in here saying “5 past 6”.
I’ve been saying “5 after 6” or “6 oh 5” my whole life. I’m from Canada & in my early 30s.
Etc.
In French they say 6 hours 5 minutes, all time is after and no time is to.
So 9:55 would be 9 hours 55 minutes, whereas in English we would say 5 minutes to 10, the French system just seems more consistent.
As an American, I’ve followed the French pattern my whole life. I’ve never once said minutes to or till an hour.