Yeah, I’ve always been taught that’s a bit rude. (Depends on context and the person you’re coming in early on, of course, but in general, a no-no.) I don’t dare knock or even call before a scheduled time now that pretty much everyone has their times synchronized.
Being German, I always get precise instructions like “Be sure to arrive at exactly 9:37” which I’ll naturally follow… 
More seriously, if it’s a birthday party or such, I rather arrive at 10 because it feels a little awkward to be one of the first guests. If the host is a close friend, then maybe I’ll arrive at 9, sometimes to help with the last preparations. If it’s a dinner party, I arrive earlier because the planning for the host is more difficult if it includes cooking and I don’t want them to have to overcook the meal.
If it’s business, then I’m there at exactly 9.
Not early, not late. If I am expected at a specific time - say 9, I will aim to arrive 5 minutes early. If I am expected between 9 and 10, I will avoid arriving early. Probably between minutes 5 and 25.
When I was working in Japan, appointments were always on the minute, so I’d arrive 10 minutes early and wait around the corner.
Japanese tend to be prompt even for parties, so I wouldn’t show up at 10, ever.
Most of the events we go to now in Taiwan are not a strict as Japan but not as loose as Brazil seems to be. A couple of months ago we went to a party which started “about 3 or so”. We were there at 3:15 and was the third of four families, with the last one maybe ten minutes later.
Ahhh, I just thought of a scenario where I wouldn’t aim for between 9:05 and 9:15… The Party I Don’t Really Want To Be At.
Might be a birthday party for someone I’m not wild about, or someone from work (and I just found out my one good friend from work won’t be there), or one of those engagement/shower/groom’s gender-reveal parties…
In that case, I show up after ten, leave my coat in the car, enter through the back door/patio and immediately grab a beverage (down half of it immediately), and a snack (take a huge bite)… so when the host first catches a glimpse of me, I look like I’ve been there all night.
it works. I feel so successfully conspiratorial when I’m greeted with “Buddddy! Ya been here the whole time, and we haven’t bumped into each other…!”
The devil is in the details.
Going by myself to a friend’s place I’d arrive it 8:55 and sit in my car for 10 minutes, then go to the door.
Going with my gf to her friend’s place, we’d leave the house too late to arrive between 9 & 10 and maybe argue a little about punctuality, although I would avoid arguing. I might ask if she was ready to leave and when she asked what the hurry was I might sigh.
Going with my gf to my friend’s place, I’d have told her originally that we are expected between 8 & 9 and we’d arrive shortly after 9.
I’ll be there just after 9.
Totally dependent on what the appointment is actually for and if I am doing anything else earlier.
Who else is going to be there, and when?
I’m kind of a satellite person in one group of friends that includes my college buddies who moved to LA after graduation (but years before I did) and the other friends they’ve made since. If it’s one of my original friend group hosting at their house, I’ll be there on the earlier side. If we’re all meeting at a bar or something, I’m a little anxious about getting there before my people arrive, and trying to remember the names of those other people I’ve met often enough that it’s acutely embarrassing to keep forgetting. In other groups where I’m more central, I don’t think about it so much.
Anytime 8:59:59 to 10:00:01.
Unlike the notice on bricks of packaged broth that say “After opening, use within 7-10 days”. I’m tired of having to store the remainder for a week before I can use it! /s
(Srsly, I posted the above wording on Reddit r/crappydesign and people didn’t understand what was wrong with it. English, people…RIF)
Yeah – that’s a pretty fine nitpick, but it does make me wonder why it just doesn’t say “within 10 days.” It’s not quite the same thing, but reminds me of wording like “save up to 25% or more.” (My literal reading isn’t the same as yours. I parse it as use from (1 to 7) to (1 to 10) days, not use between days 7 and 10. It ain’t great wording, though.)
I believe the intent is to say that the product may go bad anywhere between 7 and 10 days. So, if you want to be really safe, use it in 7 days. But, if you must, you can use it up to 10 days.
To me, the only problem is the word “within.” Just use “up to” or “before” or similar.
Also, it wouldn’t surprise me if the 7 days is an artificial limit, seeing as even the max time will usually have wiggle room. It may just be a way to get people to think it goes bad sooner. Similar to how someone might say “between 9 and 10” to try and get someone who is often late to show up before 10.
Social anxiety and FOMO. I arrive at 8:30 and then wait in my car around the corner until 9 on the dot.
If I say “I’ll be home in 6-8 hours” and I show up in 30 minutes, you’re going to say WTF. “Within 7-10 days” ONLY makes sense if it means “at least 7 and no more than 10”. Sure, that isn’t what they meant–but it’s what they said.
“The girl’s age is 19-25” means she’s definitely not 3 years old. We can argue over how precise the estimate is, but that’s not even close to a reasonable interpretation. This is the same.
“Save up to 25% or more” is just marketing blather, right, meaningless: “somewhere between 0 and a bunch”. It’s different in that it’s meaningless–it’s not wrong.
That’s not the same wording, though, and neither is your age example. “Within” is the key word. “I’ll be home within 1 to 2 hours” and you come home in 45 minutes, I would consider that correct. “I’ll be home between 1 to 2 hours” then 45 minutes is outside that time range. More common is a construction I use all the time “I’ll be home within an hour or two.” That means I might be home in a half hour. If the party is boring, I’ll leave early. If I’m having a good time, I may stay longer.
Yes, I understand the intent, and you’ve flushed out what it means to me when I hear it that way: Use it within 7 days, preferably, but may be okay up to 10.
OK, yeah, subtly different, agreed. But this is a deadline: “You MUST be home within 2 to 3 hours” is gibberish. And yes, your interpretation is what they mean, just not what they’re saying.
So, just now this happened to come up. We took a pair of PCR and Rapid Covid tests yesterday. We received the Rapid results “within an hour,” but we were told we’d receive PCR results “within two to three days.” We got them this morning, less than one full day after we took them. Is that technically not within the window they gave us? I think it is, but even if you don’t think it is, it seems to be a commonly understood construction, which would explain why people at your Reddit thread didn’t quite suss out what the problem was.
I don’t think it technically is within the window - but in that case, I wouldn’t care because it doesn’t matter if I get the results early. Just like it usually doesn’t matter if you say you’ll be home within an hour or two and you get home in 45 minutes. On the other hand, if I am waiting for a delivery and I am told it will arrive within two to three hours , I might not be home if it instead arrives in one hour.
I have to say, I don’t understand why a window is given for test results and other situations where simply saying “within three days” or by a certain date would be enough. If my Amazon order is going to be delivered between March 1 and March 4 , I’m not going to stay at home from March 1 until whenever it gets delivered. Telling me it will arrive by March 4 is good enough.
See, after thinking about it for way too long, to me the construction means between now and the date range given, not just between the dates in the range. The range is there to give an expected time frame, but the “within” covers earlier. So for me, the range is now—>(2-3) days, not 2 days->3 days. You can just say “within 3 days” but the “two to three” gives a expected range. At least that’s how I hear it, so “use within 7 to 10 days” would raise nary an eyebrow for me.
Exactly. It’s extra words that add nothing but confusion. Clear communication is important and not that difficult here. pulykamell’s COVID test results should have promised “within three days”. If two days is typical, and that’s worth noting, then: “within three days; typically it takes two”.
But again as pulykamell notes, it doesn’t matter in this case, because it’s just information. For the delivery, it matters; for coming over to my house, it matters (I might be in the shower); for food going bad, it matters.
Of course I understand what they’re trying to say. I’m not that thick. But I’m irritated by the imprecision (OK, I was actually amused in this case, since it’s so obviously meaningless to specify a range, but then was irritated that people’s thinking was muddy enough that they couldn’t understand why it matters).
Apologies, I didn’t mean to hijack this thread!