"This" weekend vs. "Next" weekend
Jonathan M Lennox
usage between different areas of the U.S. I distinguish between
"this" weekend and "next" weekend, so that the former is the weekend
immediately following the time I am talking about, whereas the latter
is the weekend after that. This similarly applies to days of the
week.
However, I have run across many people who do not make this
distinction--both "this" weekend and "next" weekend refer to the one
directly following. Needless to say, this has caused some confusion
when I am not thinking about my usage...
I am from Massachusetts--I think the usage may be constrained to the
northeast U.S. I know that it is not used in the Midwest.
Any comments? Is this distinction made anywhere else in the
English-speaking world?
Jonathan Lennox
jm...@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu
Bayla Singer
following the date of the speech) and "next" weekend (the weekend *after*
next) is confusing -- I too come from the Noetheast US, and am used to the
distinction. In other parts of the US, roadsigns have confused/misdirected
me, since I'm never sure whether "Route X next right turn" means the exit
I'm approaching, or the one following it.
Sigh.
--bayla
Gabe M Wiener
I'm a native New Yorker, and I too will say "this weekend" for the
weekend coming up, and "next weekend" to the weekend AFTER. However,
my usage is a little different. On Monday morning, for instance, I would
use "this weekend" to refer to the weekend that had just taken place,
and would specify the approaching weekend with "this coming weekend."
However, by tuesday or wednesday, "this weekend" means the coming weekend,
and "next weekend" means the one after.
As for days of the week, if I'm talking about a day in the week that
hasn't happened yet, such as talking about Wednesday on Monday, it'll
always be "this Wednesday" for that week, and "next Wednesday" for
the following. However, on Thursday and Friday, "next Wednesday"
would still probably refer to the approaching Wednesday, and I wouldn't
use "this wednesday."
However this seems endemic only to days of the week. When I'm turning
off a highway that says "Next Right," it'll be the very next right.
2 rights away would always be "second right."
--
Gabe Wiener - Columbia Univ. "This 'telephone' has too many shortcomings
gm...@cunixa.cc.columbia.edu to be seriously considered as a means of
N2GPZ in ham radio circles communication. The device is inherently of
72355,1226 on CI$ no value to us." -Western Union memo, 1877
Richard Tilley
weekend at hand, and so 'next weekend' and 'last weekend' are clear.
Otherwise for 'this weekend' the tense of the verb can be useful, as
in 'What did you do this weekend?', or 'What are you doing this weekend?'.
'Next weekend' could mean 'this comming weekend', or 'the end of next week'.
The same goes for days of the week.
If this is Tuesday, then 'this Tuesday', 'next Tuesday' and 'last Tuesday are clear.
'This Monday' could mean 'yesterday', or 'Monday of next week'.
'Last Monday' could mean 'yesterday', or 'Monday of last week'.
'Next Monday' is clear since Monday of this week has passed.
'Next Friday' could mean 'this comming Friday', or 'Friday of next week'
I think 'this week' and 'next week' are clear except perhaps on Sunday.
Month and year are always clear.
For a specific month, I am not sure.
Suppose this is November.
Does 'next December' ever mean 'December of next year'?
Does 'last January' ever mean 'January of last year'?
If this is February, do the previous 2 questions still have the same answer?
Perhaps it is safe to use 'last xxx' only if
the xxx belonging to the current group of xxx-like things has not yet passed,
and to use 'next xxx' only if
the xxx belonging to the current group has already passed,
and to use 'this xxx' when this *is* xxx.
For ambiguous xxx, use 'xxx of this group' or 'xxx of last group' or 'xxx of this group'.
--
This space is not blank!
Marie Coffin
It is used on parts of the Midwest, such as here in Iowa. A friend of mine,
who learned to speak English as a teenager in Chicago, tried to convince me
recently that the usage is illogical, citing examples such as "next exit on
the interstate". I'm not sure who won the argument, but it sure did make
interesting conversation for a few days. ;-)
Marie Coffin
dks
> I noticed recently in a conversation with someone a difference of
>usage between different areas of the U.S. I distinguish between
>"this" weekend and "next" weekend, so that the former is the weekend
>immediately following the time I am talking about, whereas the latter
>is the weekend after that. This similarly applies to days of the
>week.
> However, I have run across many people who do not make this
>distinction--both "this" weekend and "next" weekend refer to the one
>directly following. Needless to say, this has caused some confusion
>when I am not thinking about my usage...
I used to distinguish them the way you do. Beginning about five years
ago, I noticed that no one understood me, so I gave up the practice.
> Any comments? Is this distinction made anywhere else in the
>English-speaking world?
I haven't done a serious study, but I have a feeling that the
distinction is understood (and used) more frequently by non-USA speakers.
Dhanesh
Benjamin D. Lukoff
weekend, meaning this upcoming weekend, and 'next' weekend, meaning the
one after that. Is that really used more often by non-American speakers?
I'm from Seattle, by the way.
Ben
Peter Moylan
> I always thought everyone understood the distinction between 'this'
> weekend, meaning this upcoming weekend, and 'next' weekend, meaning the
> one after that. Is that really used more often by non-American speakers?
To this non-American, "this weekend" means the coming weekend, and
"next weekend" is ambiguous. "Last weekend" is also ambiguous, but
only because today is a Monday. Thinking about this, I've just
realised that to me "this Saturday" is ambiguous when I'm speaking
on a Monday, but that "this weekend" almost always refers to the future.
(Exception: "What did you do this weekend?")
Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
--
Peter Moylan ee...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au
Simon Patience
I understand it, I just ignore it :-) I always use next to mean the
"soonest to come" which is funny as my OED does too. I do distinguish
between "this weekend" and "next weekend" in that I use "next weekend"
but I never use "this weekend". I'm British by the way.
Simon.
Simon Patience
Open Software Foundation Phone: +33-76-63-48-72
Research Institute FAX: +33-76-51-05-32
2 Avenue De Vignate Email: s...@gr.osf.org
38610 Gieres, France uunet!gr.osf.org!sp
Helen Johnston
(Peter Moylan) writes:
|>
|> Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
|> this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
|> Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
|> Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
No - I quickly discovered I had to stop using that one, as it caused far too many
furrowed brows. Pity, because it's a useful construction!
--
Helen Johnston | Astronomye is an harde thynge and yvel forto knowe.
john...@fys.ruu.nl | -- William Langland, Piers the Plowman
dks
>In article <1992Jul27...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au>, ee...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au
> (Peter Moylan) writes:
>
>|>
>|> Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
>|> this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
>|> Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
>|> Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
>
>No - I quickly discovered I had to stop using that one, as it caused far
>too many furrowed brows. Pity, because it's a useful construction!
"Saturday week" is alive and well in my neck o' the woods.
Dhanesh
Philippa Hogben
>In article <1992Jul27...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au>, ee...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au
> (Peter Moylan) writes:
>|>
>|> Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
>|> this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
>|> Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
>|> Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
>No - I quickly discovered I had to stop using that one, as it caused far too many
>furrowed brows. Pity, because it's a useful construction!
It is used in Britain. Or at least _I_ use it and have never had it not understood.
Philippa Hogben
p...@eng.cam.ac.uk (Reverse address if posting from Janet)
Mark Slagle
> To this non-American, "this weekend" means the coming weekend, and
> "next weekend" is ambiguous. "Last weekend" is also ambiguous, but
> only because today is a Monday. Thinking about this, I've just
> realised that to me "this Saturday" is ambiguous when I'm speaking
> on a Monday, but that "this weekend" almost always refers to the future.
> (Exception: "What did you do this weekend?")
To this USAmerican, "this weekend" and "next weekend" mean
the same thing, except when spoken during the weekend. If
you say "next weekend" to me on Monday-Friday, it means the
one immediately following this M-F work week. If you say
it to me on Saturday-Sunday, "this weekend" means the one
ongoing, while "next weekend" means the one coming up in a
week.
> Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
> this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
> Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
> Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
Couldn't say. I'd never heard of it until now. If I
understand your definition correctly, I would refer to
the day in question as "a week from Saturday".
--
----
Mark E. Slagle PO Box 61059
sla...@lmsc.lockheed.com Sunnyvale, CA 94088
408-756-0895 USA
Claudia Kale
Yes, "[Some]day week" is used outside Australia; it's quite common
here.
Cheers,
Claudia (.sigless)
Gabe M Wiener
>if
>you say "next weekend" to me on Monday-Friday, it means the
>one immediately following this M-F work week.
Really? Even if someone asks you on Friday, "What are you doing next weekend?"
Lauren L. Crawford
>I'm a native New Yorker, and I too will say "this weekend" for the
>weekend coming up, and "next weekend" to the weekend AFTER. However,
>my usage is a little different. On Monday morning, for instance, I would
>use "this weekend" to refer to the weekend that had just taken place,
>and would specify the approaching weekend with "this coming weekend."
>However, by tuesday or wednesday, "this weekend" means the coming weekend,
>and "next weekend" means the one after.
I'm from the Midwest but have lived on the East Coast for 10 years. I
basically switch all over the place and am thoroughly confused. This made
for lots of fun when I was chief copy editor for a local magazine.
.
--
===============================================================================
Lauren Crawford // craw...@ben.dev.upenn.edu
"What a waste it is to lose one's mind, or not to have a mind is being very
wasteful. How true that is."--J. Danforth Quayle to United Negro College Fund
David Howell
consistent with the use of the word in other circumstances.
``This week'' and ``last week'' and ``next week'' are always
easy because you are always *inside* a week: this week.
You aren't always inside a weekend, sometimes you're between.
I use ``this weekend'' and ``next weekend'' interchangably, and
on those rare occasions when I need to refer to the 2nd
weekend from now, I'll say ``10 days from now,'' or
``the weekend of the 17th,'' or ``weekend after next.''
The next right turn down the road will be the first one you
come to, since `this right turn' only applies if you're at a
crossroad or intersection. Also, ``next weekend,'' or ``two
weekends from now.''
By the way, I'm also from Seattle. :)
Mark Slagle
> In article <SLAGLE.92J...@sgi417.msd.lmsc.lockheed.com> sla...@lmsc.lockheed.com writes:
>>if
>>you say "next weekend" to me on Monday-Friday, it means the
>>one immediately following this M-F work week.
> Really? Even if someone asks you on Friday, "What are you
> doing next weekend?"
Well, the boundary is a bit hazier than I implied. If it
gets late enough on Friday, and the workday is almost done
then next weekend gets farther away, I suppose. Mostly it
just gets useless at that point, though. I'd still need
to ask which one was intended.
Roger Phillips
ee...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au (Peter Moylan) writes:
Yes.
BTW, I came to the UK ten years ago next January.
--
Roger Phillips ro...@quantime.co.uk
"Being kissed by a man who didn't wax his moustache was --
like eating an egg without salt." -- Rudyard Kipling
Michael J. Eager
"Saturday week" seems to be a Briticism, not common in my experience in the US.
There is always "Saturday, next week" or "Saturday in ten days" (which
may be a back-formation from "Samstag in zehn Tagen").
As for "this" vs "next" weekend, there seems to be a shift in meaning
sometime during the week. On Monday, if somebody asks me "What did you do
this weekend?" I understand it to mean the preceeding Sat & Sun. On Thurs,
the question "Any plans for this weekend?" mean the forthcoming Sat & Sun.
Both questions are clearly marked as to time.
On Monday, asking me "Any plans for next weekend" means the coming Sat & Sun.
On Friday, asking the same question seems to clearly imply the following week,
since there is a "this weekend" at hand. On Thursday, I think there is a
shift (probably syncronized with NBS in Colorado :-)).
Thinking about it a bit, the problem seems to be an ambiguity in the meaning
of next. One meaning is "immediately following", the other meaning is
"not the present one, but the one after". Which results in my giving
directions "Don't turn at the next street, but do turn left at the next one".
---
Michael J. Eager Michae...@eagercon.com
Eager Consulting (415) 325-8077
1960 Park Boulevard, Palo Alto, CA 94306-1141
Dan Tilque
the closest weekend (but on Wednesday it would be rounded up to the
following weekend). Next weekend would always be the weekend after
this weekend.
However, later on I met people who didn't follow this rule and so I had
to avoid using "this weekend" when there might be some ambiguity.
---
Dan Tilque -- da...@techbook.com
Spawn of a Jewish Carpenter (Cindy Smith)
I say "Saturday Week" myself. When I say "next Saturday" I mean the
Saturday after the coming Saturday. "This Saturday" is the first
Saturday coming up. I also say "Monday Week" or any other day of the
week for that phrase. If it's helpful, I'm a Southerner.
> Mark E. Slagle PO Box 61059
> sla...@lmsc.lockheed.com Sunnyvale, CA 94088
> 408-756-0895 USA
Cindy Smith
c...@dragon.com
Atlanta, Georgia
Dewi Williams
Concerning "Tuesday week" and "a week Tuesday" and similar constructs:
in Sheridan's "The Rivals" (1775) there is this:
"There was this time month, how she did chirrup at Mrs. Piano's concert!"
... Dewi
Steve Mawer
>In article <1992Jul27...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au>, ee...@wombat.newcastle.edu.au (Peter Moylan) writes:
>> Usually I try to avoid the ambiguity by using phrases like:
>> this coming Saturday (the very next Saturday to arrive)
>> Saturday week (about a week and a half from now)
>> Is the construct "Saturday week" used outside Australia?
>Couldn't say. I'd never heard of it until now.
I could. I use it all the time in England (well not all the time, but when
it's relevant). And don't forget "Saturday fortnight" is the Saturday after
Satuday week.
> If I
>understand your definition correctly, I would refer to
>the day in question as "a week from Saturday".
I might say "a week Saturday" as an alternative to "Saturday week". (But
what do we pommie/limey b*****ds know about it :-)).
--
Steve C. Mawer < sma...@datlog.co.uk> or < {backbone}!ukc!datlog!smawer >
Voice: +44 81 863 0383 (x2139)
Larry Smith
>I'm a native New Yorker, and I too will say "this weekend" for the
>weekend coming up, and "next weekend" to the weekend AFTER. However,
>my usage is a little different. On Monday morning, for instance, I would
>use "this weekend" to refer to the weekend that had just taken place,
>and would specify the approaching weekend with "this coming weekend."
>However, by tuesday or wednesday, "this weekend" means the coming weekend,
>and "next weekend" means the one after.
Hmmmmmmm. On Long Island, it would be "this last weekend", "this coming
weekend" and "next weekend", respectively.
Larry Smith (sm...@ctron.com) No, I don't speak for Cabletron.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Daily I'd go over to Congress - that grand old benevolent national asylum - and
report on the inmates there. Never seen a body of men with tongues more handy,
or information more uncertain. If one of those men had been present when the
Deity was on the point of saying "Let there be light" we never would've had it.
Michael J. Eager
>The next right turn down the road will be the first one you
>come to, since `this right turn' only applies if you're at a
>crossroad or intersection. Also, ``next weekend,'' or ``two
>weekends from now.''
This sort of reminds me of an old girl friend who would tell me to turn
at this street, just as we got to the street. A wild screech of brakes
and a lot of cursing followed.
Seriously, this seems an unrealistic and mechanistic construction.
If the only time that "this right turn" has meaning is when you are
at an intersection, then it would be very rarely used, at least not
in moving vehicles. I commonly say, "take this right turn" as we
approach a corner, not when we are at the corner. Or I might say
"take the next right turn".
Bertram Walsh
Same around the upper Great Lakes (outstate Michigan), which doesn't
surprise me since people generally understood me when I lived in Seat-
tle while they don't always understand me here 8-). Use of construc-
tions like "Saturday week" seems to be increasing here on the east
coast, though I think that would be perceived as British Commonwealth
usage in most of the US (but is it used in Canada?).
Bertram Walsh Mathematics Dep't Rutgers University New Brunswick NJ 08903
wil...@vax.oxford.ac.uk
> In article 26...@u.washington.edu, how...@blegga.u.washington.edu (David Howell) writes:
>
> If the only time that "this right turn" has meaning is when you are
> at an intersection, then it would be very rarely used, at least not
> in moving vehicles. I commonly say, "take this right turn" as we
> approach a corner, not when we are at the corner. Or I might say
> "take the next right turn".
>
next turn"---no need for any clarification there!
--
Stephen Wilcox | Remember what happened to the dinosaurs!
wil...@maths.oxford.ac.uk | I did---and look what happened to me.
Richard Tilley
>I'm puzzled that no-one has yet mentioned the extremely useful and clear "This
>next turn"---no need for any clarification there!
Ah! It's the one after "Last next turn".
Chris Malcolm
>
>>I'm puzzled that no-one has yet mentioned the extremely useful and clear "This
>>next turn"---no need for any clarification there!
>Ah! It's the one after "Last next turn".
Now I'm beginning to understand why so many cars back into motorways
after having taken the wrong next turn :-)
--
Chris Malcolm c...@uk.ac.ed.aifh +44 (0)31 650 3085
Department of Artificial Intelligence, Edinburgh University
5 Forrest Hill, Edinburgh, EH1 2QL, UK DoD #205