My husband is from Kentucky. I’m from Ohio. We seem constantly to run into problems telling each other when something did or will happen, since we use certain terms in different ways. This is a poll. If more people agree with me, I’m going to mock him mercilessly. If more people agree with him, well, he doesn’t need to know about the poll!
Today is Saturday, October 21.
What date (or date range) fits:
“Last Wednesday”
“This Wednesday”
“Next Wednesday”
“This past Wednesday”
“This coming Wednesday”
“This Week”
“Next Week”
“Last Week”
“This Summer”
“Last Summer”
If it’s Saturday, October 21 and you want to refer to Tuesday the 17 of October, you would refer to:
a. This Tuesday
b. Last Tuesday
c. This past Tuesday
d. None of the above
e. All of the above
I would most commonly use b, “last Tuesday”, but could also use a) where the tense of an associated verb would identify to which Tuesday I am referring:
I went to the movies this Tuesday = October 17.
I am going to the movies this Tuesday = October 24.
The problem you have here is that Saturday and Sunday are the weekend, transitions between one week and the next. So ‘this week’ and ‘next week’ can mean exactly the same thing or different things (cf ‘This week I’m going to…’ and ‘Next week I’m going to …’ and ‘This week I’m going to…; next week I’m going to…’). Likewise ‘this week’ and ‘last week’. Context is supposed to make it clear; if it doesn’t, it’s up to the listener to ask for clarification.
If you can’t agree then try deciding your plans mid-week when there’s no such confusion!
Northeast Ohio native (we speak a different dialect from the rest of the state).
Either b or c. I think of them as synonymous.
The crux is how to interpret the word “this.” If “this” on Saturday means the week just past, then “last” would have to mean going another week further back into the past.
If “this” on Sunday refers to the week ahead, then “next” could only mean going another week further into the future. So now it’s Sunday, and according to this system “next Saturday” would mean skipping the upcoming Saturday and referring to Saturday of the week after. But this feels counterintuitive to me.
If it’s a Wednesday and someone says “this,” there’s where the real confusion begins.
The above system views each week as a whole block of days and all references are relative to the week as a whole. I don’t think that way; I refer only in terms of the present day. So for me “last” Xday always means the first one you encounter going back into the past, and “next” always means the first one in the future–not skipping over any weeks, and regardless of what week it is now.
I guess when I say “this” it means the next one coming up, but for me “this” never refers to the past, only the nearest future.
“Last XXXXday,” to me, is shorthand for “Xxxx of the week previous to this one.” Thus, as I write this on Sunday morning, 22 October, last Friday is Friday the 13th, last Tuesday is Tuesday the 11th, and so on. I should add that this usage assumes that the week begins on Monday.
“This XXXXday” is shorthand “XXXXday of the week we are currently in.” So “This Monday,” from my current POV, is Oct. 23. If today were Friday the 27 and I wrote “this Sunday” I would mean today, Oct. 22.
“Next XXXX” is shorthand for XXXXday of the next week after the current one. So if today is Monday the 23rd and I write “next Wednesday,” I mean 1 November.
“This past XXXXday” is shorthand for “the most recent Xxxxday, no matter what week it is.” It is used to avoid ambiguity since some people take "last Xxxxday in different days.
“This coming XXXXday” is shorthand for "the next XXXXday to come, regardless of whether it is in the current week or the next.
“This week,” “next week,” and “last week” all seem unambiguous to me. Weeks don’t have names and are very brief, so it’s very clear. The only ambiguity comes from whether you regard the week beginning on Sunday or Monday. I’m in the latter camp.
“This spring/summer/fall” all refer to the season of the current year. However, this/last/next winter are ambiguous except in the middle of the season, since winters straddle the change of years. If it were March and I wanted to refer to the snows in 2005, I’d go ahead and specify the month and year I meant just to avoid needless explanation.
“Last Wednesday” October 18
“This Wednesday” October 25
“Next Wednesday” Saturday doesn’t get a “next” Wednesday. On Thursday the 19th, “next” Wednesday is the 25th; on Tuesday the 17th, “next” Wednesday is also the 25th
“This past Wednesday” October 18
“This coming Wednesday” October 25
“This Week” Week of October 21
“Next Week” Week of Monday Oct 23
“Last Week” Weel of Monday Oct 9
“This Summer” October doesn’t have a “this” summer. April has a “this” summer (the one approaching)
“Last Summer” In October, summer preceding October; in August or September, summer of last year; but January, for example, doesn’t have a “last” summer; and by March it’s the summer of the previous year
If it’s Saturday, October 21 and you want to refer to Tuesday the 17 of October, you would refer to:
b. Last Tuesday
c. This past Tuesday
“Last Wednesday”: The Wednesday prior to today
“This Wednesday”: The upcoming Wednesday
“Next Wednesday”: The upcoming Wednesday
“This past Wednesday”: The Wednesday prior to today
“This coming Wednesday”: The upcoming Wednesday
“This Week”: The week we’re in, Sunday through Saturday
“Next Week”: The week that begins tomorow, Sunday
“Last Week”: The week before the one we’re in now
“This Summer”: Depends when we are in the year. The closest summer in either direction.
“Last Summer”: Again, depends how close. In October, this would mean “not the summer we just had, but the one before it.” In January, it would mean “the most recent summer.”
If it’s Saturday, October 21 and you want to refer to Tuesday the 17 of October, you would refer to:
a. This Tuesday
b. Last Tuesday
c. This past Tuesday
d. None of the above
e. All of the above
I’d use c. or “Tuesday” (“On Tuesday, you said you’d take out the garbage!”)
On Saturday, October 21, I would refer to Tuesday, October 17 as last Tuesday. Tuesday October 24 would be next Tuesday, or this Tuesday, depending on my mood. If someone said to me it happened this Tuesday, I would wonder what they were smoking that they think something happened in the past on a date that is yet to come.
Appropos of not much, I always write dates as Oct. 17/06, because we as a species can’t seem to standardize digital dates and it drives me out of my tree.
I would say “Last Tuesday,” to refer to the prior Tuesday. “This Tuesday” would be for the future. However, if it were still Saturday I’d probably say “Next Tuesday” instead.
Hmm. After further reflection, I think that most of the time I just say “Tuesday” and let the verb speak for itself. “We had a test on Tuesday” or “We have a test on Tuesday.”
“Last Wednesday” — the 18th.
“This Wednesday” — “do you mean last or next?”
“Next Wednesday” — the 25th
“This past Wednesday” — the 18th
“This coming Wednesday” — the 25th
“This Week” — 16th to 22nd (Spanish weeks begin on Monday)
“Next Week” — 23rd to 29th
“Last Week” — 8th to 15th
“This Summer” — “THIS summer? We’re in the fall, y’know”
“Last Summer” — “summer of 2006”
If it’s Saturday, October 21 and you want to refer to Tuesday the 17 of October, you would refer to:
a. This Tuesday
b. Last Tuesday <— This one.
c. This past Tuesday <— I’d also understand this one but I wouldn’t say it myself
d. None of the above
e. All of the above
