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"Last Mango in Paris" is a particular favorite of mine. Always has been. But I've always been curious about the phrase "dark thirty" in the lyrics below:

We shot the breeze for hours
As the sun fell from the skies
And like the sun he disappeared before my very eyes
It was somewhere past dark-thirty
When I went back to the head
I read upon the dingy wall
The words the old man said

Can anybody 'splain this to me?

Thanks!

same as "beer-thirty". 30 minutes past the event time in question.

RinglingRingling wrote:same as "beer-thirty". 30 minutes past the event time in question.

Exactly I have a lot of farmer friends here in Ohio and during the summer we'll meet up for drinks at dark-thirty.

Gives them time to do all their work and make plans with people at a given time but not an exact time.

During the summer dark-thirty can range between 8:30-9:45 pm

From slangsite.com:

dark-thirty: Half an hour after sunset. Not to be confused with O-dark-thirty.

Never used the phrase "Dark-thirty" but am very, very familar with "Oh Dark Thirty" (zero-dark thirty)........Basically means way too F***in' Early in the morning........

To use it in a sentance........" We woke up at Oh-Dark Thirty to go hunting" Or "We rose at Oh-Dark Thirty to the sounds of alarm claxons going off".......

Oh-Dark Thirty is a four letter phrase.......

Thanks to everyone for their input!!!!

Another one of my many "life questions" has been answered.......

Best time of the day!!! just 30 minutes past it..Merry Xmas

When we leave the house at 3:00 a.m. or so for a trip, I tell people we're leaving at "dark-thirty" and they know what I mean. It's really really early, when it's still dark. I love traveling at that time, there's nobody on the road and you can go VERY fast.

Best time of the day!!! just 30 minutes past it..Merry Xmas

citcat wrote:When we leave the house at 3:00 a.m. or so for a trip, I tell people we're leaving at "dark-thirty" and they know what I mean. It's really really early, when it's still dark. I love traveling at that time, there's nobody on the road and you can go VERY fast.

This thread reminds me of a funny "Raymond" episode, where Ray left Debra behind because she wasn't ready on time...

"We're leaving at at 6 o'clock, A.I.S!"

asses in seats

yeah, we've had that conversation at my house

Zero dark thirty. So how is ZERO the letter O, as in O'Dark thirty? HA HA.

You spelled it out. I know "o" has been used for zero for eons but it isn't a number now is it. Only in America can something be so dumbed down and accepted as normal.

Obviously dark thirty is sometime after sunset and before sunrise. I don't see the mystery in that.

JustDucky wrote:Zero dark thirty. So how is ZERO the letter O, as in O'Dark thirty? HA HA.

You spelled it out. I know "o" has been used for zero for eons but it isn't a number now is it. Only in America can something be so dumbed down and accepted as normal.

Obviously dark thirty is sometime after sunset and before sunrise. I don't see the mystery in that.

Huhhhh....never thought it took a rocket scientist to figure out how the military and the rest of the proffesional world got Oh from Zero......pretty simple actually....just pronounce the word "Zero" ........what is the last (and most predominant) sound to come out??????? OH......

In the world of people who "speak" or "Talk" for a living (air traffic controllers, pilots, sailors, coasties etc...etc....etc....) Zero and Oh are synomounous....it makes for less tranlational errors..........just like N is November and M Is Mike and S is Sam and F is Foxtrot......

Yeah ...the dumbing down....or the plain ignorant....you decide

Dutch Harbor PH wrote:

JustDucky wrote:Zero dark thirty. So how is ZERO the letter O, as in O'Dark thirty? HA HA.

You spelled it out. I know "o" has been used for zero for eons but it isn't a number now is it. Only in America can something be so dumbed down and accepted as normal.

Obviously dark thirty is sometime after sunset and before sunrise. I don't see the mystery in that.

Huhhhh....never thought it took a rocket scientist to figure out how the military and the rest of the proffesional world got Oh from Zero......pretty simple actually....just pronounce the word "Zero" ........what is the last (and most predominant) sound to come out??????? OH......

In the world of people who "speak" or "Talk" for a living (air traffic controllers, pilots, sailors, coasties etc...etc....etc....) Zero and Oh are synomounous....it makes for less tranlational errors..........just like N is November and M Is Mike and S is Sam and F is Foxtrot......

Yeah ...the dumbing down....or the plain ignorant....you decide

((((((((((((((((((((((DUTCH)))))))))))))))))))

citcat wrote:When we leave the house at 3:00 a.m. or so for a trip, I tell people we're leaving at "dark-thirty" and they know what I mean. It's really really early, when it's still dark. I love traveling at that time, there's nobody on the road and you can go VERY fast.

Yep I always schedule departures around that time too! In addition to less traffic, I was usually out of the home state at sunrise, and seeing unfamiliar scenery. Might as well travel the well known roads in the dark.

But, I never have said dark thirty except when singing along now that I think about it. Maybe I'll use that one or beer thirty, depending on my mood, to reference my birthday in February.

Bfan53again wrote:Thanks to everyone for their input!!!!

Another one of my many "life questions" has been answered.......

So happy you are posting again, missed you much on here (even though I just saw you at Peter's show )

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

docandjeanie wrote:

Bfan53again wrote:Thanks to everyone for their input!!!!

Another one of my many "life questions" has been answered.......

So happy you are posting again, missed you much on here (even though I just saw you at Peter's show )

Merry Christmas to you and your family.

Thanks jeanie.......the Happiest of Holidays to you, your family, and all BNers!

flipflopgirl wrote:

Dutch Harbor PH wrote:

JustDucky wrote:Zero dark thirty. So how is ZERO the letter O, as in O'Dark thirty? HA HA.

You spelled it out. I know "o" has been used for zero for eons but it isn't a number now is it. Only in America can something be so dumbed down and accepted as normal.

Obviously dark thirty is sometime after sunset and before sunrise. I don't see the mystery in that.

Huhhhh....never thought it took a rocket scientist to figure out how the military and the rest of the proffesional world got Oh from Zero......pretty simple actually....just pronounce the word "Zero" ........what is the last (and most predominant) sound to come out??????? OH......

In the world of people who "speak" or "Talk" for a living (air traffic controllers, pilots, sailors, coasties etc...etc....etc....) Zero and Oh are synomounous....it makes for less tranlational errors..........just like N is November and M Is Mike and S is Sam and F is Foxtrot......

Yeah ...the dumbing down....or the plain ignorant....you decide

((((((((((((((((((((((DUTCH)))))))))))))))))))

Thanks Christine.......and sorry for the rant.....can't fix ignorance, try as I may......

Fix my ig! HAW HAWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW

OK....fianlly remembered what the difference between "Dark Thirty" and O-Dark Thirty" is....

Again the "O" (Oh) is for Zero. and is said "Oh-Dark Thirty"......O-Dark Thirty is anything after Midnight (0000hrs) and before sunrise. The "O" is in reference to the "O" that preceeds the time in the 24 hr clock format.....As in 0300 (Pronunced... zero- three hundred or Oh-three hundred) .........as anytime after midnight (0000hrs) and before sunrise (0700hrs depending on the time of year) is going to be a "O" hour, those times are refered to as O-Dark Thirty. The hours of darkness preceding Midnight (say 1800hrs to 2359hrs) are not preceded with a "O" and are then refered to as Dark-Thirty......In short a simple way to refer to and differentiate the hours of darkness before midnight and after midnight......

Sorry again for the rant........