summary half day dear readers many thanks respondents 51 sent replies query time phrases nativespeaker judgments many replies acknowledge individually many asked summary goes strongly preferred good awkward x bad yuck figures following phrase give number votes cast category nt add 51 respondents rs expressed first preference x 1 family spent ipswich day half 24 26 0 0 b one half days 1 31 7 7 c thirtysix hours 1 29 6 9 makes clear winner many rs b c acceptable depending context comments implies enough time socialize implies sunday spent ipswich leaving noon monday b implies ipswich part series visits implies overnight stay part list stilted c military aeronautical whirlwind tour every moment packed feverish activity conference one half days spent syntax working time pressure airplane layover waystation ok negative experiences flu jail take layover us british topover maybe stopover visit girlfriend 2 took write book six months 16 34 0 0 b halfyear 0 10 9 25 c half year 3 44 1 1 preference c far behind b problematic comments feels shorter much effort required half year b suggests academic halfyear yuck unnatural sounds nonnative british american rs sounds american british rs ok financial contexts half year either first second half arbitrary 6 month period c sounds longer six months emphatic stress year 3 leaving half hour 6 44 0 0 b halfhour 2 24 10 11 wins b splits people two roughly equal camps comments b sounds formal awkward funny sounds normal leaving inna haf 4 tom worked lab year half 13 37 1 0 b one half years 0 32 6 7 c eighteen months 3 39 6 0 wins two nt far behind comments least exact b exact part calculation eg pension stilted fussy c exact emphasizes duration ok children ages upto two years ok contexts precision required suggests tom less involved job maybe temporary job using months time greater year hours time greater day makes time seem rushed half inch ok half foot half yard ok bying cloth even though nt normally speak half yard overall impression get context pragmatic considerations determine lexical item acceptable given slot even considerably tolerance expressions would thought possible probable three rs said eleven phrases 100 ok nt given details rs background nationality etc since rs gave details however threequarters replies came usa hope interest many thanks response roger maylor dept linguistics english language university durham uk