is this a Americanese thing? It reads like a gross simplification of just saying "a quarter" which is quite jarring coming from a prestigious university.
Weird nit to pick. I would probably write "a quarter" as well, but "one-fourth" (or, similarly, "a fourth") sounds pretty normal and idiomatic to me.
(Also weird to label something "Americanese", given that out of the countries where English is the primary language, the US is the most populous [unless you count India, which I'm not sure I would]. I'd say that makes us, if not authoritative, at least trend-setting.)
I'm sure there is a historical reason we have "half" and "quarter" and no others but it's not my area of expertise but still, not using them when they're appropriate just seems...odd.
(Also weird to label something "Americanese", given that out of the countries where English is the primary language, the US is the most populous [unless you count India, which I'm not sure I would]. I'd say that makes us, if not authoritative, at least trend-setting.)