the lateness of the hour

[Zealous]

The guys didn't expect us to come over that night, but we came.

- How could you manage to come in the lateness of the hour?

- Initially we were not aware that on weekends public transport runs night and day. But Sindy checked the schedule and found that out.


People, I have a question that I really need to know the answer to. Does the expression the latness of the hour make sense? And if yes, was it correctly used in the sentence?

(I would like to find some poetical expressions meaning the same as "late" or "lately".)

I truly appreciate your help,

Z.

 

[bibliolept]

In my opinion, this is not a correct use of the phrase. I might expect "to come in given/considering the lateness of the hour."

However, the phrase "lateness of the hour" is not as idiomatic as simply saying "come in this/so late" or "come in at this hour." Those are much more likely to appear in everyday conversation.

 

[HalloweenHJB]

"Given/Considering the lateness of the hour" is a fairly set phrase in more formal contexts:

"Given the lateness of the hour, I move to adjourn the meeting."