# They moved it back **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [February 25, 2026, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956 "2026-02-25T13:20:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![OldOlds](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a3d4f5/32.png) [@OldOlds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OldOlds)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/21 "2026-02-26T00:19:47Z")
Definitely a later date. Also, I feel like I here both back and out pretty regularly, and up most commonly as the opposite. ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/22 "2026-02-26T17:54:21Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You’ve never heard an expression like “we can’t make Mar 2, let’s move it out to Mar 16”? I hear this all the time! Honestly, I never have heard that! ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [February 26, 2026, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/23 "2026-02-26T17:56:11Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > You’ve never heard an expression like “we can’t make Mar 2, let’s move it out to Mar 16”? I hear this all the time! Yup I’ve heard that. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/24 "2026-02-27T14:12:22Z")
> [@wolfpup](#): > > I agree that (a) “moving it back” means moving to a later date, and (b) it’s confusing because you’re moving the date in the same direction as time flows, so in what sense it is “moving back”? I grew up in Saskatchewan where they don’t use DST and I’m still confused by “spring ahead” and “fall back” when referring to time changes. What is going ahead – the clock or me? Or are those both the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/25 "2026-02-27T14:21:14Z")
A later date. And there’s really no reason to use “back,” “out,” “up,” etc. Simply say, for example, “The event was on March 5th but we moved it to March 12th." ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/26 "2026-02-27T14:43:41Z")
Ha! The “spring forward, fall back” expression is a great illustration of what I’m talking about! In the fall, we (outside of Saskatchewan! 😉 ) move the clocks **back** to one hour earlier. Makes perfect sense – the clock moves clockwise indicating the flow of time, and in the fall we move it back – counter to that direction – by one hour. 2 AM becomes 1 AM. So how the hell is moving an event **back** in time supposed to mean changing it to a **later** time or date? ---
**Author:** ![filmore](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/7993a0/32.png) [@filmore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/filmore)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/27 "2026-02-27T15:31:32Z")
The same with calendars and timelines in general. If there was a wall calendar with a bake sale on Wednesday and someone said, “move the bake sale back two days”, the most obvious thing would be to move the bake sale backwards two days and put it on Monday. And time machines. If I ask my assistant move the destination date two days back, my intention would be to go into the past by two days. Won’t I be surprised when I end up two days in the future! ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/28 "2026-02-27T15:55:28Z")
The English language seems to be ill-equipped to coherently communicate relative time. The one that drives me nuts is “this”, “next”, and “last” in relation to days of the week. Say it’s Tuesday. Is “last Monday” yesterday or 8 days ago. Is “next Monday” in 6 days or 13? But apparently, if you mean the actual next Monday, you need to say “this Monday”. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 27, 2026, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/29 "2026-02-27T21:00:47Z")
It’s fuzzy. It more seems to be how far you are from the day. If it’s Tuesday, “last Monday” would be 8 days ago. But if it’s Saturday, “last Monday” would be 5 days ago. “This” is always the very next one coming up. ---
**Author:** ![wolfpup](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolfpup/32/10618_2.png) [@wolfpup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolfpup)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2026, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/30 "2026-02-28T01:08:22Z")
> [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](#): > > The English language seems to be ill-equipped to coherently communicate relative time. The one that drives me nuts is “this”, “next”, and “last” in relation to days of the week. Yes, this is another one that bugs me. And there’s no definitive reference manual for it because different speakers actually do mean different things by those expressions. Sometimes the meaning is perfectly obvious – if you’re in a regular Monday morning meeting, and someone says “we’ll discuss this next week” it’s obvious that it means the next meeting a week from now. But yes, in a great many cases the meaning is extremely ambiguous. Just say what you mean, dammit – give dates and times, stop referring to moving things back, forward, or sideways! ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2026, 2:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956/31 "2026-03-01T14:55:11Z")
I have the same problem with bi-weekly meetings. Is it twice a week or every other week? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/they-moved-it-back/1027956.md?page=1)