Donald C. says, "My pet peeve (the same every year) is 'till.' You can put money in a till, or you can till the south forty, but you cannot wait till the south forty needs tilling to put money in the till."The difference between "till" and the more-correct sounding "until" is simple: You cannot put money into an until and you cannot (at least, without a great deal of trouble) until the south forty -- minor spelling error aside.
When you're talking about a period of time that must lapse before something happens, "till" and "until" are equivalent. Don't believe it? Check a dictionary. "Till" actually came first, and "until" followed more recently.
"'Til" is also an acceptable shortened form of "until," but the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language says the form is "etymologically incorrect."
