Someone left me a message on Tuesday that the meeting for Wednesday was moved to next Friday. To me ‘next Friday’ means, well, the next Friday-- or the Friday coming. The next Friday in line. You know, two days after the first scheduled meeting.
The message leaver, however meant what I would call ‘the following Friday’. Or, ‘Friday AFTER next’. Nope, says message leaver, I would have said “The meeting was moved from Wednesday to Friday” if I had meant the coming Friday.
Boy, the discussion at work went on for hours. It seems everyone has different interpretations of what “next Friday” means. What does it mean to you?
When people tell me “next Friday”, my follow up question is generally, “do you mean the next Friday in the world*?” because I, too, am frequently flummoxed by this descrepancy in the word next. FWIW, I agree with your interpretation.
*Admittedly not possible when you are told “next Friday” in a message that doesn’t allow for follow-up questions.
In my locality (UK), ‘next Friday’ almost always means ‘the Friday that is 7 or more, but less than 14 days in the future’ (i.e. usually the Friday of next week), but I think there are other places where it is understood to mean ‘the forthcoming Friday’.
Sorry if that wasn’t much help - there isn’t only one valid answer.
BTW, the reason it’s like this here is that the forthcoming Friday is ‘this Friday’
I agree with Mangetout. While I understand “this Friday” to be, well, this coming Friday and “next Friday” to be more than seven days away, I don’t think the term is certain enough to be used in a business setting without clarification.
“Friday after next” to me would mean the Friday after “next Friday”.
Do you notice when you type “Friday” too many times it starts to look wrong?
Based on the interpretation difficulties already mentioned, if I wanted somebody to do something or be somewhere on a Friday in the near future, I would use the date of the Friday I meant so as to avoid confusion. But that’s just me.
If somebody said “next Friday” to me on a Thursday or a Wednesday, I’d probably take it to mean “not this coming Friday – in a day or two – but the next one after it.” Move the day back to Tuesday or Monday and I’d want to know which Friday was meant. Sunday or Saturday, I’d be pretty sure it would be the one coming up within the same 7-day period.
It definitely varies by region and user. Not a definitely correct answer, even if somebody produces evidence otherwise.
I am firmly with Zeldar on this one. In a business setting, I believe that any reference to a meeting ought to include the date. The meeting has been moved to Friday, June 22.
Many people in the office also said it depended on which day of the week they were told ‘next Friday’ as to which Friday was meant. Very imprecise, this English. Why do so many people speak it?
Next friday is the friday next week. This coming friday is “this friday,” or just “friday.” The whole point of adding the word “next” is to distinguish it from this friday. If “next friday” meant this friday then the word “next” would be superfluous and pointless.
I usually still ask for (and give) clarification, though, because so many people get it wrong.
To me, ‘Next Friday’ is the first day coming that’s going to be a Friday.
The one after that is ‘A-Week-Friday’ or ‘Friday-Week’
I’ve always used them that way, even in local business work, and it’s never caused confusion that I’ve noticed, so I guess that’s the norm for my area.
But next means the one coming. Next in line doesn’t mean the person behind the first in line. Next week doesn’t mean the week after the week coming. It’s only when using it during the days of the week that ‘next’ all of a sudden means the one after next.
Exactly. Makes it harder to misunderstand (whether deliberately or by honest mistake).
As for how I understand it.
Friday = tomorrow
Next Friday = June 29
Friday after next = July 6
It’s a logical progression. If next Friday is the 29th, then the one after next is July 6th (though if you go that next Friday is the 22nd, then after next would be the 29th).
The convention of saying “next __day” contains an ellision. It’s not really the day that’s “next,” but the week. “Next friday” is an ellided way to say “next [week’s] friday.” “Next” should be thought of as an abbreviation of “next week.”
Must clarify with date.