Thread: десятый час на исходе

Под вербное воскресенье в Старо-Петровском монастыре шла всенощная. Когда стали раздавать вербы, то был уже десятый час на исходе, огни потускнели, фитили нагорели, было всё, как в тумане.

What time is десятый час на исходе?
thanks

10:45-10:59 a.m.

Almost ten o'clock.

Literally: tenth hour is finishing.

Edit: studyr, you are wrong.

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Almost ten o'clock.

Literally: tenth hour is finishing.

Edit: studyr, you are wrong.

No, I don't think studyr is wrong. It is true that in present-day Russian "десятый час" means nine hours + some minutes. But that was not always so. In Pushkin's times, "в десятом часу" used to mean "когда пробил десятый час", i.e. "at 10". I am not sure when exactly the change took place, but I believe that when Chekhov was writing his story, the older usage was still prevalent.

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

No, I don't think studyr is wrong. It is true that in present-day Russian "десятый час" means nine hours + some minutes. But that was not always so. In Pushkin's times, "в десятом часу" used to mean "когда пробил десятый час", i.e. "at 10". I am not sure when exactly the change took place, but I believe that when Chekhov was writing his story, the older usage was still prevalent.

Hmmm... I have no enough statistics but I feel like it was not a standard but very general error (both in old times and now). One can try to interpret "в десятом часу" in this way but not "на исходе десятого часа". Midnight (00:00) was always accepted as the beginning of the calendar day, no? So the first hour is obviously between 00:00 and 01:00. The second is 01:00 - 02:00. Etc.

Originally Posted by it-ogo

Hmmm... I have no enough statistics but I feel like it was not a standard but very general error (both in old times and now).

No, that was the standard usage among educated people. In fact, I think that it was not until after the civil war, when the huge part of better educated people and old intelligencia were either killed or had to emigrate, that the new usage became prevalent (along with many other changes that took place at the same period).

Originally Posted by it-ogo

N Midnight (00:00) was always accepted as the beginning of the calendar day, no? .

No, not until the 17th century or so (at least in Russia).

Originally Posted by it-ogo

So the first hour is obviously between 00:00 and 01:00. The second is 01:00 - 02:00. Etc

That is what the logic says. But the logic and the actual usage do not always see things eye to eye

Originally Posted by translationsnmru

No, I don't think studyr is wrong. It is true that in present-day Russian "десятый час" means nine hours + some minutes. But that was not always so. In Pushkin's times, "в десятом часу" used to mean "когда пробил десятый час", i.e. "at 10". I am not sure when exactly the change took place, but I believe that when Chekhov was writing his story, the older usage was still prevalent.

Today, "в десятом часу" means between 9 and 10?

Originally Posted by sperk

Today, "в десятом часу" means between 9 and 10?

Yes!

Часом раньше, часом позже. Какая разница? Воскресенье. Никто на работу же не опаздывает.