Hah! Yeah, I understand, but I’ve been hearing this in spoken English as well, „half seven“ instead of „half past six“, though in school I was taught only the latter existed.

It’s like this in German as well, and it’s also regionally different, but once you get it it’s actually nice:

In most parts of Germany (and where I grew up) and in Standard German you tell time (literally) as:

Six, quarter past six, half seven, quarter before seven, seven.

In the south of Germany it’s: six, quarter past six, half seven, three quarter seven, seven. This never made sense to me, until…

… I moved to East Germany, where it’s: six, quarter seven (!), half seven, three quarter seven, seven.

Imagine my face, I never even had heard of this before I moved there 😂

I immediately picked this up because it rolls off your tongue way easier in German than the standard way. And it’s mindblowingly logical. I love it:

You just need to imagine an hour as a cake: one quarter of seven, half of seven, three quarters of seven, seven. Genius.