Quick, think fast. Which of these three is the oldest form of the word?
Have your answer?
Are you sure?
I’ll be honest. I assumed the wrong answer for a long time, and this assumption lead me to dark, ungrammatical places. Not so scary, perhaps, but not a place any writer wants to be.
Okay, ready?
The first known use of “till” in its present meaning of “up to the time when” was before the 9th century. That’s right: “till” is the oldest of the three words. “Until” didn’t arrive until the 12th century, combining the known “till” with the prefix of “un” (or more specifically the Norse “und”) in the same manner that brought us “unto” (a bit outdated, but Shakespeare would approve).
In the present day, of course, “until” is considered the standard. Using “till” or “‘til” is considered more casual. Somewhere, we’ve gotten it into our heads that ‘til is the proper abbreviated form of “until,” but this is a newer, not universally accepted form. It seems logical, sure, but the double-Ls win the day.
In your writing, I recommend “until” in most situations, but know that when you want to use a shorter form, “till” is the way to go. This is one of those respecting our elders moments, I think.
Now who had that answer right?