#176680 - 05/06/08 09:47 PM
Re: this/next
[Re: zmjezhd]
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The Pook
addict
Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 468
Loc: Tasmania
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and the most logical way to refer to a date from it.Oh, what's my favorite? Why didn't you say? The best way is ISO 8601 which Faldo referred to: YYYY-MM-DD link. (It's an international standard. Can't get much better than that.)
I agree. My order of preference is:
1. what you call ISO 8601
2. the British/Australian method of day month year
3. the US system of month day year
But i also believe that my preference is based on logic.
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#176684 - 05/06/08 10:03 PM
Re: this/next
[Re: Myridon]
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The Pook
addict
Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 468
Loc: Tasmania
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Not this Tuesday (the Tuesday in this week), but next Tuesday. Your way "this Tuesday" and "next Tuesday" mean the same thing - if and only if it's not after Tuesday -
Yeah, so? What's wrong with synonymous phrases? 
no one has brought up the question: "What does "last Tuesday" mean?"
It means the last Tuesday that happened, whether or not it is in the same week as the day you are talking. The only unambiguous way of saying it is "Tuesday last week" if that's what you mean. If it's Monday, then "last Tuesday" has to refer to last week. Otherwise, in order not to be misunderstood, I would say "Tuesday last week."
My way is, no matter if it's Monday or Wednesday, last Tuesday is still in last week, this Tuesday is still this week, and next Tuesday is in next week.
I suppose in practice that is not so confusing since if it were past you would be using a past tense verb with it - it was this Tuesday. But that sounds really strange to me, and could still be confused with a past perfect - you might be saying that something WAS scheduled for the Tuesday that is coming up but now isn't or you aren't sure.
John: "When was that meeting we were going to have?"
Mary: "It was this Tuesday"
Is his "was" a past perfect/imperfect? Is she using a past perfect and he has missed it? Guess it depends what day of the week it is. My way, next Tuesday always means next Tuesday regardless of the week it is in. And it means the same as "this Tuesday," which never means "last Tuesday."
Edited by The Pook (05/06/08 10:08 PM)
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#176687 - 05/06/08 10:09 PM
Re: this/next
[Re: The Pook]
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zmjezhd
veteran
Registered: 08/13/05
Posts: 1523
Loc: R'lyeh
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No matter what you say I will continue to stubbornly insist on using the most logical meaning.
Logic has little, if not anything, to do with language. I, on the other hand, see the logic of the other side: this is a deictic pronoun referring to that which is close to the speaker, as opposed to that by the hearer and yon by a third person who is neither ego or tu. If it's humpday, and somebody (not Mr ThePook nor zmjezhd) says this Tuesday, it makes sense that s/he is referring to the day before, not that one six days out (or seven as the Romans counted, they being a logical people, too). I don't see what the fuss is, as long as the person doing the reckoning does so consistently. That way I don't get into squabbles over whether soda is pop or coke.
The funny thing is that next is an archaic superlative form of nigh, so when somebody says next Tuesday, they literally and etymologically mean the closest Tuesday to the day they are speaking of.
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#176694 - 05/06/08 11:20 PM
Re: this/next
[Re: zmjezhd]
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The Pook
addict
Registered: 02/20/08
Posts: 468
Loc: Tasmania
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The word nigh used temporally always refers to the future. Therefore is next is "an archaic superlative" of nigh, it refers to the nearest future event. So, no, I would not mean yestern.
The Pookwife, on the other hand, agrees with my antagonists in this debate. But I forgive her. 
What does Nu mean? Did you mean nuh? huh? 
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Quote:The funny thing is that next is an archaic superlative form of nigh, so when somebody says next Tuesday, they literally and etymologically mean the closest Tuesday to the day they are speaking of.
