Layah,

Thanks for you reply. Half 11 is definitely 11.30 but to me 5 till 6 means you'll be doing something from 5 to 6 o'clock. I though saying 5 of 6 meant five minutes past 6 (or is it 5 minutes to 6?)

Diverging from the time, I remember when I was about 9 my mum's cousin, who is married to a US Airman, was staying and she asked me to get her purse from the living room. As you can imagine she wasn't very happy a minute or so later when she came to find out why I'd been taking so long to see me rummaging around her handbag looking for a purse. She quickly forgave me when she realised the language gap. (Purse (US)= Handbag (UK), Purse (UK)= Pocketbook(?)(US))