I know what it means but never really thought about why it is the 11THhour...why not the 24th hour since that would be the FINAL hour

The expression may come from the parable of the workers in the vineyard found in Matthew 20.

The workers hired in the eleventh hour were those hired in the last available working hour of the day.

I always thought the expression came from the signing of the armistice with Germany ending World War I, at 11 o'clock AM on the 11th of the 11th month (November).

This message has been edited. Last edited by: DorianGreyed,

My guess would be that since the day ends at midnight, and the next day begins; we might well think of the eleventh hour as the ending of the the day, the literal "final hour" of any given calendar day

Thanks guys!