Word Choice – “Half an Hour” vs “Half Hour”

It is perfectly acceptable to say "give me half of that". In English, "half" in understood on its own to mean "one of two equal parts of something".

To put it another way:

• It would make no sense to say "give me no halves of that". You would just say "give me none of that".
• It would make no sense to say "give me two halves of that". You would just say "give me all of that".

Saying "give me one half of that" is redundant. It's equivalent to saying "give me one of one of those two equal parts of that."

The NOAD reports that the first meaning of poorly is "in a way or at a level that is considered inadequate," while the first meaning of badly is "in an unsatisfactory, inadequate, or unsuccessful way."

The NOAD has also a note about the usage of bad.

Confusion in the use of bad versus badly usually has to do with verbs called copulas, such as feel or seem. Thus, standard usage calls for I feel bad, not I feel badly. As a precise speaker or writer would explain, I feel badly means "I do not have a good sense of touch."

There is a slight difference between poorly, and badly: Poorly should be used when something is considered inadequate, while badly should be used when something is inadequate.

I work in a badly managed company.
He spelt a few poorly articulated words.