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Discussion Groups / British English / June 2005The word "Next"
My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on the week in which I make the comment. If I say it in the same week then the word "next" must refer to the Friday of the following week but if I made the statement on the preceeding Sunday then "next Friday" would be the forthcoming Friday. Now I feel that next refers to the next item in line irrespective of which week or whatever. I would appreciate any guidance on this conundrum provided that we both get a definitive answer that will resolve our argument. >My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". >My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >I would appreciate any guidance on this conundrum provided that we both >get a definitive answer that will resolve our argument. I think you are most unlikely to have your argument resolved by any suggestions here. There does not appear to be a definitive answer. All I can suggest is that you restore domestic harmony by agreeing that the head of the household should decide the correct usage of next. ;-)  SignaturePeter Duncanson UK (posting from u.c.l.e) > >My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". > >My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > >the forthcoming Friday. Now I feel that next refers to the next item in > >line irrespective of which week or whatever. > >I would appreciate any guidance on this conundrum provided that we both > >get a definitive answer that will resolve our argument. > I think you are most unlikely to have your argument resolved by any > suggestions here. There does not appear to be a definitive answer. I think the definitive answer has already been given in another response: You have no choice but to recognize that "next" is ambiguous, and both of you must make it a practice to choose better wording, like "this coming Friday" or "Friday the 24th". I, for one, would never say "next Friday" and expect to be certainly understood correctly. > All I can suggest is that you restore domestic harmony by agreeing that the > head of the household should decide the correct usage of next. ;-) That solution merely begets another problem: resolving who is head of the household. Meanwhile, I hope you won't be offended and will accept it in the helpful spirit in which it's intended if I tell you that the correct spelling is "preceding". Among otherwise excellent spellers, it's possibly the most common error I've seen. > > > >My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". [quoted text clipped - 31 lines] > excellent spellers, it's possibly the most common error I've > seen. [*] By "you" I meant, of course, the original poster, not Peter Duncanson, the responder to the original poster. > My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". > My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > I would appreciate any guidance on this conundrum provided that we both > get a definitive answer that will resolve our argument. My wife and I differ in our understanding of the term too, so we always try to disambiguate the situation by saying Friday of next week, say, or this coming Friday. Of course, "week" is a somewhat vague concept as there is considerable disagreement over when it actually begins. For centuries Sunday has been considered to be the first day of the week, which is why Christians chose it as the day of rest, to distinguish it from the Jewish Sabbath which is Saturday. However, in our present secular world many people consider Monday to be the first day of the week, as it's the first working day, while the Radio Times seems to choose Saturday because they don't want to split the weekend and it fits better with their print runs that way. Quite what a Hindu or Muslim would consider to be the beginning of the week is outside my ambit. Maybe we should just stick to dates. > <prnsk@lycos.co.uk> wrote in message >> My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". >> My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >> I would appreciate any guidance on this conundrum provided that we both >> get a definitive answer that will resolve our argument. > My wife and I differ in our understanding of the term too, > so we always try to disambiguate the situation by saying > Friday of next week, say, or this coming Friday. Same here. It just seems to be one of those things. Maybe there's a male-female difference is usage, so we will *always* differ with our wives about it. Can anyone give a case where the male-female usage is the other way round to the cited case? Matthew Huntbach In uk.culture.language.english, Nick Wagg wrote: >> My wife & I regularly argue about the correct use of the word "NEXT". >> My wife considers that if I refer to "next Friday" then it depends on [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] >so we always try to disambiguate the situation by saying >Friday of next week, say, or this coming Friday. I'm surprised to hear you (and someone else in this thread, I think) admitting this difference. In my household and circle of friends, "next Friday" means the Friday of next week. No question about it. >Of course, "week" is a somewhat vague concept as there >is considerable disagreement over when it actually begins. ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the first day of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. Context matters. SignatureMike Barnes > ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the first day > of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. Context matters. OK which day IS the first day of the week then? Paul Burke In uk.culture.language.english, Paul Burke wrote: >> ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the first day >> of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. Context matters. > >OK which day IS the first day of the week then? I'm glad you asked me that. I'll tell you the answer when you tell me what you mean by "the" week. There are lots of weeks to choose from. SignatureMike Barnes >> I'm glad you asked me that. I'll tell you the answer when you tell me > what you mean by "the" week. There are lots of weeks to choose from. Well, there must have been 'the' week in 1962 otherwise we couldn't have had TW3. There's The Week in Westminster for the terminally bored. The weekend is Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (isn't it?). How long is a plumber's week, as in "I'll be round in about three weeks"? Paul Burke >>> I'm glad you asked me that. I'll tell you the answer when you tell >>> me [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > bored. The weekend is Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday > (isn't it?). I think it starts on Thursday. But who was it who said that having a meeting on Wednesday ruins two weekends? SignatureJohn Briggs >>>> I'm glad you asked me that. I'll tell you the answer when you tell >>>> me >>> what you mean by "the" week. There are lots of weeks to choose from. >I think it starts on Thursday. But who was it who said that having a >meeting on Wednesday ruins two weekends? Jerome K Jerome, in _Three Men In A Boat_, said The trouble with working on Wednesdays is that it spoils both weekends. But I think you can claim the credit for your version. SignatureGraeme Thomas In uk.culture.language.english, Paul Burke wrote: >>> I'm glad you asked me that. I'll tell you the answer when you tell me >> what you mean by "the" week. There are lots of weeks to choose from. > >Well, there must have been 'the' week in 1962 otherwise we couldn't >have had TW3. The first days of those weeks were presumably seven days before each performance. Approximately. For all anyone cares. > There's The Week in Westminster for the terminally bored. Similar answer applies. >The weekend is Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday (isn't >it?). What's Thursday done to offend you? >How long is a plumber's week, as in "I'll be round in about three >weeks"? A string's-length. SignatureMike Barnes >> ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the first >> day of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. Context >> matters. > OK which day IS the first day of the week then? It depends on the context :-) SignatureJohn Briggs On Wednesday, in article <3haiksFg78nnU1@individual.net> > > ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the first day > > of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. Context matters. > > OK which day IS the first day of the week then? You wouldn't need to ask that question, if you spoke Greek. Their names for Monday, ..., Thursday mean, literally, Second, ..., Fourth. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday fall outside this pattern. SignatureBrian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." Blaise Pascal, /Lettres Provinciales/, 1657 "Brian {Hamilton Kelly}" <bhk@dsl.co.uk> wrote... > > > ISTM that there is no "actually" when it comes to which is the > > > first day of the week, and nothing worth disagreeing about. [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > names for Monday, ..., Thursday mean, literally, Second, ..., Fourth. > Friday, Saturday, and Sunday fall outside this pattern. There's something not quite right with that. Matti > On Wednesday, in article <3haiksFg78nnU1@individual.net> > > You wouldn't need to ask that question, if you spoke Greek. Their names > for Monday, ..., Thursday mean, literally, Second, ..., Fourth. Friday, > Saturday, and Sunday fall outside this pattern. Ahem. If Monday is "Second", then shouldn't Thursday be "Fifth"? On Thursday, in article <d8rbh1$fqr$1$8300dec7@news.demon.co.uk> > > On Wednesday, in article <3haiksFg78nnU1@individual.net> > > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Ahem. If Monday is "Second", then shouldn't Thursday be "Fifth"? Errm, yes. The Greek names, transliterated into semi-phonetic English are Dheftera, Triti, Tetarti, Pembti. So if Monday==Second then Sunday (Kyriaki==Lord's) must be the first day of the week. For completeness, Saturday==Savvato~=Sabbath, and Friday==Paraskevi. I've never worked out the etymology of that latter: no Helenophone will tell me any meaning other than "Friday", although I have met it as a [female] proper name[1]. At a guess, it might be something to do with "against the hidden", although I've no concept of what that might imply. [1] Hmm, circularity detected; if "Friday" can be a girl's name, so too can "Thursday Next" (Jasper Ffoorde's heroine). SignatureBrian {Hamilton Kelly} bhk@dsl.co.uk "Je n'ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n'ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte." Blaise Pascal, /Lettres Provinciales/, 1657 At 22:31:31 on Thu, 16 Jun 2005, Brian {Hamilton Kelly} <bhk@dsl.co.uk> wrote in <20050616.2131.60251snz@dsl.co.uk>: >For completeness, Saturday==Savvato~=Sabbath, and Friday==Paraskevi. >I've never worked out the etymology of that latter: no Helenophone will >tell me any meaning other than "Friday", although I have met it as a >[female] proper name[1]. At a guess, it might be something to do with >"against the hidden", although I've no concept of what that might imply. Something to do with dress-down day? :-) SignatureMolly Mockford They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety - Benjamin Franklin (My Reply-To address *is* valid, though may not remain so for ever.) > On Thursday, in article > > [1] Hmm, circularity detected; if "Friday" can be a girl's name, so too > can "Thursday Next" (Jasper Ffoorde's heroine). Tuesday Weld? >> My wife and I differ in our understanding of the term too, >> so we always try to disambiguate the situation by saying >> Friday of next week, say, or this coming Friday. > I'm surprised to hear you (and someone else in this thread, I think) > admitting this difference. In my household and circle of friends, "next > Friday" means the Friday of next week. No question about it. How can it possibly mean this? Surely it's far more logical for it to mean "the next day that is a Friday". Although my wife disagrees ... Matthew Huntbach In uk.culture.language.english, Matthew Huntbach wrote: >>> My wife and I differ in our understanding of the term too, >>> so we always try to disambiguate the situation by saying [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] >How can it possibly mean this? Surely it's far more logical for it >to mean "the next day that is a Friday". Logical? This is *English* we're talking about, dammit. >Although my wife disagrees ... There's your answer. SignatureMike Barnes |
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