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Discussion Groups / English Usage / February 2010This weekend or last weekend?
The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). On the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper article on the the meeting (the Wall Street Journal). The first line of the article started with: "Tea Party activists gathered in Tennessee this weekend .......". I thought that "this weekend" should be "last weekend". What's your opinion? James > The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). > On the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > What's your opinion? James I'm with you.  SignatureSkitt (AmE) >> The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). >> On the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> >> What's your opinion? James > I'm with you. But this is often a source of confusion, not to mention the confusion around "next Sunday" and "this Sunday", for instance. With best wishes, Peter. SignaturePeter Young, (BrE, RP), Consultant Anaesthetist, 1975-2004. (US equivalent: Certified Anesthesiologist) Cheltenham and Gloucester, UK. Now happily retired. http://pnyoung.orpheusweb.co.uk James Cargo wrote, in <UtGdnQyTeLzs0unWnZ2dnUVZ_r2dnZ2d@swcp.com> on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:41:53 -0700: > The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). On > the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper article on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > What's your opinion? James The article was written on Saturday. SignatureNick Spalding BrE/IrE > James Cargo wrote, in <UtGdnQyTeLzs0unWnZ2dnUVZ_r2dnZ2d@swcp.com> > on Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:41:53 -0700: [quoted text clipped - 11 lines] > > The article was written on Saturday. There's actually no indication of when the article was written. If it appeared in the 2/8 paper edition, it should have been changed to "last weekend". FWIW, "this weekend" was still valid when the article appeared in the online WSJ on 2/7: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704829704575050052747143916.html I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. >I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. Me too, but in the case of something that is clearly in the past it can mean only the most recent weekend. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) "Peter Duncanson (BrE)" <mail@peterduncanson.net>: >>I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. > >Me too, but in the case of something that is clearly in the past it can >mean only the most recent weekend. I'd regard it as a mistake, pure and simple. But I might make allowances for people who regard the previous Sunday as the (first) end of the current week. :-) SignatureMike Barnes Cheshire, England > I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. So do I, but I might also say "next weekend" if I'm speaking on Monday or Tuesday. I think a rigid distinction between the two is standard AmE but in BrE it is much less so. When I was first married (to an AmE speaker) there was often confusion when I was driving and she was giving directions. If she said "take the next left" I would turn at the first intersection we came to, whereas she meant the one after. Signatureathel Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:21:25 +0100 from Athel Cornish-Bowden <athel_cb@yahoo.co.uk>: > > I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. > > So do I, but I might also say "next weekend" if I'm speaking on Monday > or Tuesday. I think a rigid distinction between the two is standard AmE > but in BrE it is much less so. I don't think there's a rigid distinction in AmE either, at least not where I live. "This weekend" can mean the one just past or the one coming up, depending on context and especially on when the words are used. SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... >Fri, 12 Feb 2010 13:21:25 +0100 from Athel Cornish-Bowden ><athel_cb@yahoo.co.uk>: [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] >coming up, depending on context and especially on when the words are >used. If "this weekend" is said on Tuesday, assuming Monday was not a holiday, through the upcoming Monday, I think most people are referring to the included Saturday and Sunday, not the previous or the upcoming Saturday and Sunday. SignatureRegards, Chuck Riggs, An American who lives near Dublin, Ireland and usually spells in BrE > > I use "This weekend" to refer to the weekend that's coming up soon. > > So do I, but I might also say "next weekend" if I'm speaking on Monday > or Tuesday. I think a rigid distinction between the two is standard AmE > but in BrE it is much less so This is certainly not a rigid distinction in AmE. "Next Friday", when said on Thursday, probably doesn't mean "tomorrow"; said on Saturday, it probably does mean "6 days from now". There's no clear crossover; referring to "next Friday" on Wednesday is ambiguous. > When I was first married (to an AmE > speaker) there was often confusion when I was driving and she was > giving directions. If she said "take the next left" I would turn at the > first intersection we came to, whereas she meant the one after. Your usage is standard in AmE, though there's a little ambiguity here as well. If you're just travelling down a straight road, "the next left" means the first left that you come to. OTOH, if you're in sight of one intersection (and probably pretty close to it) you could say "it's not this left, but the next one" to refer to the second left that you come to--and If you're already in an intersection (or perhaps almost in it), "the next left" would mean the following intersection (not the one you're in). Thu, 11 Feb 2010 11:41:53 -0700 from James Cargo <tana@thunek.net>: > The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). On > the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper article on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > What's your opinion? James The WSJ has always had a slightly unusual house style. For instance, an interest rate increases to X from Y percent, never from Y to X. I suspect "this weekend" is more of the same, on the theory that when the words were written down the weekend was not over. Actually, come to think of it, "this weekend" sounds right to me. On Monday my co-workers and I don't ask "what did you do last weekend?" but "what did you do this weekend?" I'm not sure at what point in the week "this weekend" stops denoting the weekend in the immediate past and starts denoting the one in the immediate future. But on Monday morning, using "last weekend" to describe the two preceding days would seem wrong to me. I'm still wondering about that "was ended" in your first line. Who put an end to the convention? SignatureStan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA http://OakRoadSystems.com Shikata ga nai... > Actually, come to think of it, "this weekend" sounds right to me. On > Monday my co-workers and I don't ask "what did you do last weekend?" [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > immediate future. But on Monday morning, using "last weekend" to > describe the two preceding days would seem wrong to me. I find the above use of "this" distinctly odd. I agree that the weekend in question might feel too recent to justify "last", but that simply makes it "the weekend": "What did you do over/at the weekend?", "How was the weekend?", "How was your weekend?". The juxtaposition of "did...do" and "last weekend" grates horribly on my ears. SignatureRob Bannister > > Actually, come to think of it, "this weekend" sounds right to me. On > > Monday my co-workers and I don't ask "what did you do last weekend?" [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > makes it "the weekend": "What did you do over/at the weekend?", "How was > the weekend?", "How was your weekend?". "What did you do this weekend" seems the most normal to my (AmE) ear, but most of your alternatives seem pretty common to. The exception is "what did you do at the weekend?", which sounds wrong enough to me that I'd assume there's a pondial or other linguistic difference at play. > The Tea Party Convention was ended on last Saturday (Feb 6th, 2010). On > the following Monday (Feb 8th, 2010), there was a news paper article on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > What's your opinion? James Clearly, it was intended as elliptical for "this week end [just] past". Since the operative verb "gathered" is clearly past tense, the remark cannot possibly be forward-looking, leaving as the only possible function for "this" a pointer to the nearest now-past weekend. SignatureCordially, Eric Walker, Owlcroft House http://owlcroft.com/english/ |
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