Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 October 4
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October 4[edit]
Next Thursday[edit]
Today is Tuesday — this may be important to the discussion — and having a little dental difficulty, I checked in at the dentist's for an appointment. The secretary said "We can fit you in next Thursday". Well, I've been caught before, so naively enquired "what, in two days ?" and she replied (scornfully I felt) "no, Thursday next week, the 13th." Is this just an Australian useage, where "Next Thursday" means "Thursday, next week" ? Doug butler (talk) 06:01, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- No, not just Australian.
- In the OED Online, this is sense 5b of next if you say it as "next Thursday", or sense 10c if you say it as "Thursday next". The same problem exists for both. For sense 5b, they define it as:
- Applied (without preceding the) to days of the week, with either the current day or (in later use; originally Scottish) the current week as the implicit point of reference.
- And add a usage note:
- Thus (for example) next Friday may mean ‘the soonest Friday after today’ or ‘the Friday of the coming week’. The latter may be indicated contextually, e.g. by contrast with this, but it is not always clear which meaning is intended.
- Note that they do not say anything about either version of the usage varying geographically. It's just one of those annoying ambiguities in English that everyone should get used to. (I suggest always saying "Friday the 14th" or similar.)
- The same ambiguity exists when people say it as "Friday next"; in that case it's sense 10c in the dictionary. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 174.95.81.219 (talk) 06:16, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- In America, your situation would be "this Thursday" vs. "next Thursday". The former implies "this coming Thursday" or "Thursday this week"; and the latter implies "Thursday next week". ←Baseball Bugs What's up, Doc? carrots→ 06:45, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- Are you sure that everybody in America makes that distinction, BB? I tend to use them that way (in England) but I am aware that not everybody here does.Also, if I'm talking about five or six days away, I may get confused about where I am in the week, and so exactly where the cutoff comes, and so say "next Monday" when with more reflection I might have said "This Monday". ColinFine (talk) 12:13, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- I'ne heard of similar confusion in England over the "next Thursday" construction, but I think most people would say "this Thursday" and "Thursday week" to avoid confusion (especially if their job was to make bookings by telephone). Alansplodge (talk) 12:40, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- Don't be so sure about that. Two days ago I had an appointment to see a doctor I'd only ever seen once before, in my local area. I arrived on time, to find the place locked up. I called their number and I was told I was supposed to be at their XYZ office, not their ABC office. I had zero knowledge about any XYZ office. Anyway, I took down the address and hightailed it over there (a 40-minute trip in early peak hour traffic), only to be greeted by the receptionist with "Oh, you're finally here, Jack", as if it had all been my fault. I felt like smashing her in the face, but I managed to count to ten and bite my tongue. Later I checked my voice mail from when the appointment was made, and sure enough, there was mention of the date and time, but nothing about which office to be at. So much for making sure there's no confusion about important details. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 18:19, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- And a literary connotation ;) Thursday Next. Lectonar (talk) 09:04, 5 October 2022 (UTC)
- Don't be so sure about that. Two days ago I had an appointment to see a doctor I'd only ever seen once before, in my local area. I arrived on time, to find the place locked up. I called their number and I was told I was supposed to be at their XYZ office, not their ABC office. I had zero knowledge about any XYZ office. Anyway, I took down the address and hightailed it over there (a 40-minute trip in early peak hour traffic), only to be greeted by the receptionist with "Oh, you're finally here, Jack", as if it had all been my fault. I felt like smashing her in the face, but I managed to count to ten and bite my tongue. Later I checked my voice mail from when the appointment was made, and sure enough, there was mention of the date and time, but nothing about which office to be at. So much for making sure there's no confusion about important details. -- Jack of Oz [pleasantries] 18:19, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- I'ne heard of similar confusion in England over the "next Thursday" construction, but I think most people would say "this Thursday" and "Thursday week" to avoid confusion (especially if their job was to make bookings by telephone). Alansplodge (talk) 12:40, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- Are you sure that everybody in America makes that distinction, BB? I tend to use them that way (in England) but I am aware that not everybody here does.Also, if I'm talking about five or six days away, I may get confused about where I am in the week, and so exactly where the cutoff comes, and so say "next Monday" when with more reflection I might have said "This Monday". ColinFine (talk) 12:13, 4 October 2022 (UTC)
- It would be the same in Polish (e. g. w następny czwartek which would mean next Thursday as in the Thursday a week from now) and German (e. g. am naechsten Donnerstag, which would mean the same). In English I would have no doubt that the good secretary would let me only come in next week (I'm not a fan of having to go to the dentist). --Ouro (blah blah) 18:58, 5 October 2022 (UTC)