Is "until" or "till" more common in British English spoken comversation? And is there a regional distinction between them?
Posted by Glass-Complaint3@reddit | AskABrit | View on Reddit | 36 comments
I am American. I know both words are used frequently in both British and American English, but "till" has always struck me as being a little more British somehow. And that Americans would usually say "til" or "'til" as an abbreviation of until. I could be mistaken though.
2ManySpliffs@reddit
I say “till” all the time, because I talk fast and it’s one less syllable, but in writing I would only use “until”.
Anglo-Euro-0891@reddit
It is "til".
Actual_Cat4779@reddit
It is in fact "till" (see here, here, here). The idea that it should be "til" is a widespread misconception.
2ManySpliffs@reddit
Doesn’t matter how it is spelt if you are only saying it. Dickhead.
The_Big_Man1@reddit
It's such a tiny difference I don't think it makes a difference where you are from. It could be as simple as how fast you are talking in that instance.
British English isn't just one accent. It varies massively depending on where you are from. Listen to Geordie or Scouse accents and see how different it is to what you 'expect' from British English.
That's not even getting into other languages spoken in the UK (Welsh or Scots Gaelic for example).
Marble-Boy@reddit
The Geordie accent is really interesting if you look into the history of it.
I'm from Liverpool. You get on a bus heading East and an hour later every one is talking in a massively different accent. Johnny Vegas is from St. Helens. I can get there on a bus in half an hour, but the scouse accent and the St. Helens accent are very different. St. Helens is closer to a Manchester accent than a Scouse accent.
Glass-Complaint3@reddit (OP)
You are so right about the Scouse accent in particular! So many people only think of RP when they think of “British English.”
QuiltMeLikeALlama@reddit
Just a heads up ‘The Till’ is also a noun here.
A till is a checkout register in shop a restaurant. So you might hear someone saying they’re taking something to the till or you could get told to pay at the till.
Eg, “we can’t leave till you pay for it at the till, but you can’t eat it until we get home”.
DivePotato@reddit
Poetry
Sad_Introduction8995@reddit
‘Till’ is an incorrect abbreviation of ‘until’. ‘Til’ is correct. Sorry, had to blurt that out, couldn’t get past it 🤣
Actual_Cat4779@reddit
That's not true. "Till" isn't an abbreviation of "until". Further, "till" is the correct spelling, and the rendering "'til" arose out of the mistaken belief that "till" was indeed an abbreviation, but it's not.
Here's what Collins Dictionary says about 'til: "(informal) a variant form of till1 (sense 1)"
The entry for "till" describes 'til as a nonstandard spelling, and says: "Till is a variant of until that is acceptable at all levels of language. Until is, however, often preferred at the beginning of a sentence in formal writing."
Sad_Introduction8995@reddit
My life is a lie
-Frankie-Lee-@reddit
Till is much older than until.
Actual_Cat4779@reddit
Yeah, it seems to go roughly like this.
blamordeganis@reddit
r/confidentlyincorrect
dont_drink_the_tap_w@reddit
there is an accent thing here, that i'm not clever enough to talk about - hopefully someone can step in - but in some sentences the 'un' in until wouldn't be pronounced - or it would but barely perceptibly - but the word is still until and not till, if you get me? And then, as you say, there is the word 'till' and it's not an accent thing. and because both mean the same thing it would be very hard to tell
SnooDonuts6494@reddit
It depends on the context.
originalcinner@reddit
Yes. I'd say "I can't go out till Johnny finishes his breakfast", casually, but "Until you finish your breakfast, Johnny lad, no one is going anywhere" as more of a threat ;-) First one is a quick throwaway sort of line, second one is carefully articulated.
Puzzleheaded_Pin2566@reddit
They are interchangeable, until being more proper.
Green_Dress79@reddit
til
Reetgeist@reddit
In South Yorkshire you might say "while" rather than either of those.
GingerWindsorSoup@reddit
Same in Oldham Lancashire - I’m to a Jerry’s place six while seven tonight.
pab6407@reddit
Also in West Riding. ( Although come to think of it much of South Yorkshire used to be in the West Riding )
oooohshinythingy@reddit
I say til way more than until. Im broad Yorkshire
Anglo-Euro-0891@reddit
Both seem to be used equally in all the parts of England I have lived in. And the second one is spelt "til".
Prudent_Data1780@reddit
That regional and education dependant question to me
asymmetricears@reddit
I don't know about specific regional differences, but to me until is more formal and proper than til, which is more slang.
I'll be here til 10, and I'll be here until 10, I use both frequently, and which one I use depends on context. I don't tend to write til down though, I'd write it as until.
Jonlang_@reddit
Weird that. The original word was “till” and “until” came about as some sort of augmented form of “till”, probably modelled on then-popular words like “unto”. But now people think “till” is a contraction of “until” and even spell it ’til which makes no sense, really.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Till came first. Then until. Then 'til as a contraction of until. All three having precisely the same meaning, two of them being pronounced identically.
Til is currently an error but if people do it enough then it'll just mean we have four ways of saying exactly the same thing.
Jonlang_@reddit
Worst TL;DR ever. You somehow made it longer.
FjortoftsAirplane@reddit
Well, you were just flat out wrong that 'til makes no sense, implying that it's a mistake to do that, but I didn't feel like being a tosspot about it like you're being.
Own_Ask4192@reddit
‘Til or til comes from the mistaken assumption that “till” is a short form of until. It isn’t, they’re separate words in fact till is older.
pineapplewin@reddit
Lived in both, all over, and wouldn't say there's a marked difference in usage. Just depends on the person and preference. I use both interchangeably, though til teens to be more relaxed and until Congress out for directions and more business interactions.
Fair-Face4903@reddit
Both, and it's entirely situational.
Necessary_Umpire_139@reddit
I'd say it's more to do with the flow and rhythm of speech as opposed to anything else.
qualityvote2@reddit
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