What we have here, is failure to communicate!
I think this thread proves that there is no “right” answer to the question. The idiom is indeterminate, and the wise speaker will always add clarification when using either phrase.
This coming Sunday
This last Sunday
Next Sunday, the 15th.
Next Sunday, the 8th.
Absolutely. And there’s no sense trying to apply logic to say one is right and the other is wrong, because both usages are logical. So clarify the usage of “next.” Like I said, around here, if you talked about “next Wednesday” (today is Thursday), it would be interpreted to mean to following (upcoming) Wednesday. But if you said “next Sunday,” it would not be interpreted to mean the upcoming Sunday, but the Sunday of the following week (the 15th). “This” and “next” in this context mean “this week” and “next week,” as evidenced by many speakers here. But other dialects apparently have different usages which are just as logical.
When I was the copy editor on my weekly college newspaper, I wrote in the style guide that events within a week of the publication date (which was Wednesdays) would be dated simply using the name of the day of the week and using the present or future tense to make clear whether the event is in the past or future. So if the publication date was Wednesday March 4, I might say, “The hockey team won their game against Clarkson on Saturday.” Or I might say, “The hockey team plays Yale on Friday.” Beyond that, any dates were identified with the month and day.
I hate this ambiguity. In practice, I’ll say “This Sunday” or “Sunday of this week” to mean the one coming in a few days. For the Sunday that’s ten days from now, I’ll say “Sunday after next” or “Not this Sunday, but the one after that.” Ugh, it’s awkward.
Yep, that’s the standard Associate Press style of dealing with it (under the entry “time element.”) It says to specifically avoid using constructions like “last Tuesday” or “next Tuesday,” and simply use the day of the week for days of the week within seven days before or after the current date, and month and date for anything outside this range.
just because you wouldn’t refer to Wednesday as ‘the next Wednesday’ doesn’t mean that it isn’t the next Wednesday.
if numbers aren’t given the i ask for them.
To me, “the next Wednesday” can mean something different than “next Wednesday.” If you asked me “What’s the date of the next Sunday?” I’d say the 8th. “What’s the date of next Sunday?” I’d say the 15th. Ain’t language interesting? (Do note that your dialect may vary.)
Let me throw a wrench into this discussion. In rural Texas ‘Sunday’ and ‘next Sunday’ meant the same thing, that is, the Sunday immediately following. If you want to to talk about the Sunday following you said, “I’ll see you Sunday week.”
I’ve never heard anyone use that outside of that small rural community.