How do you tell the time in Cantonese?

Cantonese often tells the time by the numbers on a clock face, counting minutes in steps of five. 一點三 (jat1 dim2 saam1) is 1:15, because the minute hand points at the 3. 一點九 is 1:45 and 一點半 is 1:30. Each five-minute step is a 字 (zi6), so 1:05 is 一點一個字, or just 一點一. A Mandarin speaker reading the same characters sees a decimal: 1.3.

The speaker in this clip says Hong Kong people tell the time with 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, adding 唔係講小數點嗰啲喎, “not the decimal-point kind”, and the transcript writes them as digits, the very misreading he means. He calls it 廣東話專有, unique to Cantonese. An informal poll he ran on Twitter found it mainly in Cantonese-speaking places and in Chinese communities in Singapore and Malaysia that Cantonese influenced, but not in mainland China or Taiwan, where 1:15 is 一點十五分 or 一點一刻. A related form uses 踏 (daap6), “to step on”: 三點踏九 is 3:45, the minute hand stepping on the 9.