ESL Podcast 378 - Talking About Time

a quarter to - 15 minutes before the hour

My classes start at four o'clock, but I must leave at a quarter to four because it takes fifteen minutes to walk to the school.

noon, on the dot - exactly noon; precisely 12:00 p.m.

My boss said that if I don't arrive at the meeting at noon, on the dot, I will lose my job.

past - after; following; later than

Licia arrived at the train station at 10 past seven and missed her seven o'clock train.

knock it off - an informal phrase used to tell someone to stop doing something; similar to "stop it!"

"Knock it off," the girl finally said to the boy who had hit her five times with his toy car.

to be on time - to be somewhere at the correct time; to arrive at the agreed upon time; the opposite of "late"; to be punctual

Did you make it to your son's school on time or were you late again?

to turn up - to arrive somewhere; to show up to a place, either late or unexpectedly

We waited in front of the theater for hours, but AJ never turned up. `til - short for "until"; before

Meet me at twenty-five `til two, so we will have a few minutes to prepare.

you don't know the half of it - another way to say, "You don't know how bad it really was."

Yes, having my wallet stolen sounds terrible, but you don't know the half of it! I had $500 in cash in it!

quarter after - 15 minutes after the hour

Alejandro will arrive at nine-thirty and give his speech at a quarter after ten.

to show up - to arrive somewhere; to turn up at a place

Don's girlfriend is angry that he didn't show up at her art show.

nearly - almost; not quite; very close to

Did you hear that Baracka nearly got hit by a car last week?

to add insult to injury - to make a bad thing worse; to add to an already bad situation

I fell down the stairs, and then, to add insult to injury, I broke my shoe!

well after - a long time after; much later

The nine o'clock movie was so long that it didn't end until well after midnight.

to be pissed off - informal phrase that means "very angry"; impolite way to say one is annoyed or upset

I am pissed off at my sister because she forgot my birthday again this year.

charm - the ability to make others like and admire one; attractiveness; appeal

Debbie has a happy personality and friendly manner, and everyone agreed that she has a lot of charm.

to lose track of time - to forget about the time; to be so busy that one doesn't remember to look at the clock

Sorry I didn't call you earlier. I was playing a computer game and I lost track of time.