midnight
Several attitudes imply `` Make ready . '' The `` make ready '' of ten minutes to one differs from the `` make ready '' of ten minutes to twelve , as youth differs from age . `` Upward and onward '' says twenty-five minutes to eleven . Mid-day or midnight expresses distinctly `` It is done . '' You surely have noticed that ? ' ` Yes , I have . ' He continued with affected quaintness : -- ` The easy dash of ten minutes past seven , the rakish recklessness of a quarter past , the drooping weariness of twenty-five minutes past , must have been observed by everybody . '