OT: speaking of days (weeks, months, years, etc.) (was: Re: Movie 'n Book recommendations by Curt)
On Friday, March 31, 2017 06:30:25 AM Terence wrote:
> There is no ambiguity if (as I have always understood) "Thursday" means
> "this (or the coming) Thursday" and "next Thursday" or "Thursday next"
> means "a week on Thursday".
>
> And having lived in Yorkshire for two very happy years, I would agree that
> York is above London in so many ways...
To me, all that has been discussed is (potentially) confusing and ambiguous.
To me, I prefer the following--ohh, most of the examples assume that the
current day is not Thursday (but maybe that makes no difference):
Thursday can refer either to the coming Thursday or the previous Thursday
based on the context, for example:
On Thursday, we played baseball. (obvious (to me) that was the (just)
previous Thursday)
The paper is due on Thursday. (obvious (to me) that is the (just) coming
Thursday)
Last Thursday, we played baseball. (clear to me, but the "last" is redundant
and may be ambiguous to some--might some mean the Thursday before the most
recent??)
The paper is due next Thursday. (clear to me, but the "next" is redundant
and is ambiguous to some--some seem to mean the Thursday after the coming /
really next Thursday)
The paper is due Thursday next. (clear to me, but the "next" is redundant and
is ambiguous to some--some seem to mean the Thursday after the coming / really
next Thursday--it might be a Briticism (to coin or mangle a word))
To specify the Thursday before the last Thursday, use something like: "the
Thursday before last Thursday".
To specify the Thursday after the coming Thursday, use something like: "the
Thursday after next Thursday".
Use similar constructs for other days, weeks, months, years, millennia,
minutes, hours, etc., or better, specify a date, year, time, or similar.
I'm not aware of whether the grammar lords have established a clear preferred
usage pattern--if they have, I'm sure it differs on the two sides of the
Atlantic.
(Maybe this is my subconcious bid to become a grammar lord?? Uuh, I think
I'll shut up now, I'd hate to be tagged with that label.)
Randy Kramer
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