I've just had two people correct me because I used till instead of 'til. I was feeling paranoid because of the numbers of things that I've written with "till". It turns out that we are all right. Thanks for making me check.
"Usage Note: Till and until are generally interchangeable in both writing and speech, though as the first word in a sentence until is usually preferred: Until you get that paper written, don't even think about going to the movies. ·Till is actually the older word, with until having been formed by the addition to it of the prefix un-, meaning “up to.” In the 18th century the spelling 'till became fashionable, as if till were a shortened form of until. Although 'till is now nonstandard, 'til is sometimes used in this way and is considered acceptable, though it is etymologically incorrect." http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=till
Posted by yanos (Member # 1831) on :
Actually, I checked this one myself after correcting you. I realised then how wrong I was. Saying that my dictionary says that "till" is only really used as a word in itslef in the Scottish dialect. Most people now use "'til" as a abbreviation for until. I hope you prove my dictionary wrong...
Posted by EricJamesStone (Member # 1681) on :
Although the dictionary doesn't mention it, the use of untill is even more rare. Here's a proper example:
"No, we're not going to plant our crops there! Now you'll have to go untill that field."
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Ha!
Posted by Kickle (Member # 1934) on :
Cool, now I know why I use to have a problem with this word- my family on both sides come from Scottish heritage.
[This message has been edited by Kickle (edited January 06, 2005).]
Posted by HSO (Member # 2056) on :
How strange, Mary. I was just discussing this with my wife a few days back -- probably on the day this topic was made. The story I was reading had both usages and it sort of threw me. I meant to look it up but forgot.
Cool.
By the way, congrats for finishing the novel.
Posted by MaryRobinette (Member # 1680) on :
Thanks! I was wondering when you were going to turn up again here. You did promise that you were going to be more involved in the New Year.
I think in one of my stories I corrected one "till" to "'til" but didn't do any of the others. I've since gone back and search/replaced them all to "till" or "until".
Posted by rjzeller (Member # 1906) on :
I always thought it was a Minnesotan convention! :-)
They always drop syllables in their speech around here. People member things, they never remember them. People scuse themselves, they never excuse themselves.
But my favorite comes from my wife's family, who have a nasty habit of eating Parmesian (par-me-see-un) cheese instead of Parmesan cheese...
