# English language usage: “The evening of…” **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 15, 2024, 10:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667 "2024-12-15T10:00:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/21 "2024-12-16T03:27:42Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > I’d say “a week from Friday” And is that the same, or not quite the same, as “Friday week”? ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/22 "2024-12-16T03:29:11Z")
I don’t know. I don’t know what “Friday week” means – that’s entirely unfamiliar to me. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/23 "2024-12-16T03:53:13Z")
I’m pretty sure in some varieties of British and European English it mean a week from this coming Friday. I don’t think it’s commonly used any more. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 9:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/24 "2024-12-16T09:36:55Z")
> [@Saltire](#): > > ‘Eve’ only means the day before in a direct phrase like ‘Christmas Eve’ or ‘New Year’s Eve’. It sort of requires that the day have a name, like holidays do. You’d never use ‘November 16th Eve’ to talk about November 15th. Concur - it has to be the evening before some named, significant day or event in order to reasonably imply the evening before. There are other similar constructions that might not refer to a singular day, for example, ‘the eve of war’ is the night before a war started. But ‘eve’ and ‘evening’ are not the same thing anyway; Christmas Eve = the latter part of the 24th Christmas _evening_ = probably the end of the 25th (although I think many people would probably resort to ‘the evening of Christmas day’ or ‘Christmas day evening’ in order to be unambiguous). ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/25 "2024-12-16T09:41:32Z")
Correct: It’s Monday 16th today. Shall we go out Friday? This Friday? No - I’m busy; How about Friday week? ‘Friday’ (without any other qualifier) = Friday 20th ‘This Friday’ also = Friday 20th ‘Friday Week’ = Friday 27th ‘Next Friday’ = (probably) also Friday 27th (at least that’s how it works where I live in southern England) ---
**Author:** ![Gordon\_G](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3da27b/32.png) [@Gordon\_G](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gordon_G)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 11:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/26 "2024-12-16T11:37:03Z")
Lately I can hardly hear a word without looking it up at Wiktionary! Its examples show _evening_ and _eve_ to have almost _opposite_ meanings: ‘after’ and ‘before’ resp. _It was the **evening** of the Roman Empire._ _the **eve** of a scientific discovery_ (The ‘-n’ was deleted from (the now obsolete) ‘even’ because it was mistaken for an inflection.) ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/27 "2024-12-16T13:59:56Z")
You’re right, you girlfriend is wrong. No-one in the modern English-speaking world would use “the evening of X” to mean “X’s Eve” ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/28 "2024-12-16T18:03:08Z")
> [@DPRK](#): > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > I’d say “a week from Friday” > > And is that the same, or not quite the same, as “Friday week”? Having read the explanations of “Friday week”: yes, that’s the same thing as “a week from Friday”. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 6:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/29 "2024-12-16T18:24:32Z")
Not be confused with a _week of Sundays_. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 6:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/30 "2024-12-16T18:29:35Z")
Is that a week off from work, or a whole week spent at church? ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/31 "2024-12-16T19:16:36Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > [@DPRK](#): > > > > > [@thorny\_locust](#): > > > > > > I’d say “a week from Friday” > > > > And is that the same, or not quite the same, as “Friday week”? > > Having read the explanations of “Friday week”: yes, that’s the same thing as “a week from Friday”. There is also “a week on Friday”, perhaps depending on the context, also meaning the same. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/32 "2024-12-16T19:50:21Z")
It’s seven weeks, possibly give or take a day or two, but mostly much longer altogether. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/33 "2024-12-16T19:50:50Z")
Ah! Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/34 "2024-12-16T20:08:05Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > Not be confused with a _week of Sundays_. Is that like “a month of Sundays,” which just means “a very long time”? ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/35 "2024-12-16T20:12:46Z")
Yep. I’ve heard that to. The first time I heard it was in response to someone saying a job would be complete on Sunday - followed by “Better not be a week of Sundays”, meaning it was taking too long. I think “a month of Sundays” is closer to “never”. ---
**Author:** ![veryfrank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/87869e/32.png) [@veryfrank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/veryfrank)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/36 "2024-12-16T20:16:36Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I also wonder if there’s a connection with “a quarter of…” to mean “15 minutes before” an hour. That’s something I’d never say and don’t really hear much, but apparently it’s a thing. Sound more British to me. They also say “half seven” to mean 7:30, and I find it flows quite nicely off the tongue but would only cause confusion 'round these here parts. ---
**Author:** ![Turki-lurki](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/turki-lurki/32/7168_2.png) [@Turki-lurki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Turki-lurki)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2024, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/37 "2024-12-16T23:31:28Z")
Depends on which side of the international date line you are on. The Brits are funny about that. They had particular interest in the topic since at one time the sun never set on their empire. Under their system, today can be eithr yesterday or tomorrow depending on the direction from which you cross the line. Hence the grammatical confusion. Yes, I have been drinking. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/38 "2024-12-17T12:09:37Z")
> [@veryfrank](#): > > > [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > > > I also wonder if there’s a connection with “a quarter of…” to mean “15 minutes before” an hour. That’s something I’d never say and don’t really hear much, but apparently it’s a thing. > > Sound more British to me. Not to this Brit -I’ve only ever heard it from Americans. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an old usage that died out here but survived across the Atlantic. ---
**Author:** ![Mighty\_Mouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mighty_mouse/32/7776_2.png) [@Mighty\_Mouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Mouse)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/39 "2024-12-17T12:27:05Z")
> [@PatrickLondon](#): > > Not to this Brit -I’ve only ever heard it from Americans. Though I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s an old usage that died out here but survived across the Atlantic. I’ve lived in the US for nearly 40 years and I’ve only heard it from British or Irish people, either expats or immigrants. My grandmother used to say this, but I assume she picked it up living in the UK for 40 years (from the late 60s on) not from her life in India and Pakistan before that. She mostly lived in Bradford, but I imagine she’d have spent most of her time with the South Asian community there. ---
**Author:** ![Pleonast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pleonast/32/1183_2.png) [@Pleonast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pleonast)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2024, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667/40 "2024-12-17T14:55:06Z")
In my central Ohio dialect, I say things like: “It’s a quarter til three.” = 2:45 “It’s half past ten.” = 10:30 “It’s five til eight.” = 7:55 “It’s twenty past five.” = 5:20 The pattern is “til” indicates before the top of the hour, “past” indicates after. Fractions (“quarter”, “half”) are in hours, whole numbers (“five”, “ten”, “twenty”) are in minutes. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-language-usage-the-evening-of/1011667.md?page=3)