Until, till or 'til?

seun · Aug 12, 2006

I've never been sure about this. I remember reading books when I was younger that used 'til as a contraction of until but it seems to have gone out of fashion. Till never seems right to me. Is there a hard rule for this one?

J. Weiland · Aug 12, 2006

Have a look at this link,

http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-unt1.htm

, and notice the sentence that says, "But till is perfectly good English and the choice of whether to use it or until is often decided by the rhythm of the sentence."

No there is no hard rule. If till sounds better than until,then use it.

Hope this helps

seun · Aug 12, 2006

Cheers. That's a big help. Thanks a lot.

Silver King · Aug 13, 2006

There was a similar thread some time ago, and I believe it was Mr. Ritchie who made a comment that the word "until" is a perfectly good word on its own and never needs shortening. This came as a revelation to me, and I've used "until" ever since (to good effect, I think).

veinglory · Aug 13, 2006

I use 'til -- mainly in dialogue. I see it written both ways 'til and till. The only one I don't like is til (no apostrophe)

Popeyesays · Aug 13, 2006

I think "till" is used since it slips through MS spell check and is suggested whenever anyone writes "til". However "till" has only one meaning in the dictionary as "turn over the soil for planting"

I use the apostrophed version in dialogue and rarely use it in narrative sticking to "until".

Regards,
Scott

stormie · Aug 13, 2006

I agree with Scott. In dialogue, 'til seems to work. Till reminds me of soil being turned over. And until is best.

Cath · Aug 13, 2006

I agree - I would use 'til in dialogue because it is still in common use, but until in any other circumstance.

And I always use the 'til form because it is a contraction.

seun · Aug 14, 2006

I have a tendency to use 'til or till in dialogue but as I said, till just doesn't feel completely right. :Shrug:

J. Weiland · Aug 15, 2006

seun said:
I have a tendency to use 'til or till in dialogue but as I said, till just doesn't feel completely right.

Could you post some small samples of dialogue with the wicked word in it; then I will tell you what I think about it.

Bufty · Aug 15, 2006

"I won't be back till midnight." Nothing wrong with that dialogue to my eye. Depends upon the character, I guess.

FalconDance · Aug 15, 2006

Bufty said:
"I won't be back till midnight." Nothing wrong with that dialogue to my eye. Depends upon the character, I guess.

....except the word till is not a contraction or colloquialism to use in the place of until. :tongue

As mentioned, "till" means to turn over soil (as for a garden); it is also the money tray kept in inside a cash register.

rekirts · Aug 15, 2006

My dictionary, The Oxford Complete Wordfinder, has 'till' listed 4 times.* According to this dictionary 'until' is used in formal style and at the beginning of a sentence, otherwise 'till' is perfectly acceptable.

*1. up to or as late as
2. a drawer for money in a store or bank
3. prepare and cultivate
4. stiff clay containing boulders, sand, etc., deposited by melting glaciers and ice sheets

ETA: Just as a point of interest, in the Anglican Book of Common Prayer, the marriage ceremony has this line:
I M. take thee N. to my wedded Wife, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death us do part, according to God's holy ordinance; and thereto I plight thee my troth.

So even in formal style 'till' is used.

Until, till or 'til?

seun

Horror Man

J. Weiland

Lurker

seun

Horror Man

Silver King

Megalops Erectus

veinglory

volitare nequeo

Popeyesays

Now departed. Rest in peace, Scott, from all of us

stormie

storm central

Cath

The mean one

seun

Horror Man

J. Weiland

Lurker

Bufty

Where have the last ten years gone?

FalconDance

rekirts

NOooooo!!!