# When Did "On Tomorrow" Become a Thing (Language Use) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 7, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715 "2023-07-07T05:20:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Odesio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/odesio/32/20003_2.png) [@Odesio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odesio)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/1 "2023-07-07T05:20:31Z")
A few years back, I had a coworker who would tell me something like, “I’ll have this ready for you _on_ tomorrow.” But then I heard others say on tomorrow, and, brace yourself, even “on yesterday.” I’m not the language police or anything, but every time I hear someone say these things it’s like listening to someone’s elementary school kid practicing on his plastic recorder. Am I going crazy? Or do you also hear people say “on tomorrow” or “on yesterday” these days? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 6:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/2 "2023-07-07T06:32:35Z")
I knew somebody about fifteen years back who used it. Definitely a bit jarring, but the construction of “on tomorrow” isn’t any different than “on Thursday.” ---
**Author:** ![mordecaiB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mordecaib/32/7725_2.png) [@mordecaiB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mordecaiB)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/3 "2023-07-07T07:51:42Z")
Never heard it. NYC mostly. Whereabout are you located, maybe it’s regional. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/4 "2023-07-07T08:16:32Z")
I’ve never heard that. What I do hear, sadly, is “at the weekend”. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/5 "2023-07-07T08:17:26Z")
^^^ It’s standard UK English. ---
**Author:** ![whitetho](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whitetho/32/1059_2.png) [@whitetho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whitetho)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 8:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/6 "2023-07-07T08:34:56Z")
Is thia a recasting of “on the morrow”? ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 9:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/7 "2023-07-07T09:21:02Z")
> [@alovem](#): > > It’s standard UK English. I’m pretty sure it isn’t. Being pretty standard english myself and living in both north and south I’ve never heard it. There may be a specific regional variation for it, certainly in Yorkshire I’ve heard people say “on the morrow” but that is very niche. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/8 "2023-07-07T09:50:26Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > > [@alovem](#): > > > > It’s standard UK English. > > I’m pretty sure it isn’t. Being pretty standard english myself and living in both north and south I’ve never heard it. > > There may be a specific regional variation for it, certainly in Yorkshire I’ve heard people say “on the morrow” but that is very niche **alovem** with the arrows was clearly talking about “at the weekend” which I would agree is standard English. **Monty** ’s objection to it is bizarre ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/9 "2023-07-07T11:16:42Z")
I can’t speak to UK usage. As to the OP’s contention it’d be interesting to know where on Earth he lives. I _think_ he’s a USAian. And whether he’s hearing this from oldsters, youngsters, or furriners. In my many travels around the USA I’ve never heard “on tomorrow” or “on yesterday”. Although I agree with @Johnny_Bravo that it’s parallel to the commonplace “on Thursday”. So not grammatically wrong, but not a standard USA idiom. Yet. To me it has that slightly jarring feel that maybe it was a construction deliberately used in some fictional writing to make dialog delivered in English sound foreign or alien. Akin to Star War’s use of “youngling” to mean “youth” or “child”. Instantly understandable, but still “not IRL people talking.” Could be from a fantasy series just as well. _LOTR_, _Harry Potter_, _Game of Thrones_, etc. I know I don’t recognize it, but I don’t read or watch fiction, and certainly not trendy fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Ike\_Witt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ike_witt/32/283_2.png) [@Ike\_Witt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ike_Witt)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/10 "2023-07-07T11:28:01Z")
That was my initial thought as well. ---
**Author:** ![colinfred](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colinfred/32/21338_2.png) [@colinfred](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colinfred)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/11 "2023-07-07T11:31:34Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > I can’t speak to UK usage “On tomorrow” is certainly not a UK thing. ---
**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:** [July 7, 2023, 11:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/12 "2023-07-07T11:31:59Z")
> [@Odesio](#): > > A few years back, I had a coworker who would tell me something like, “I’ll have this ready for you _on_ tomorrow.” But then I heard others say on tomorrow [..] Is this all at the same workplace? Maybe one guy started saying it and others picked it up from him. At my work, there is one guy who likes to use the word “fulsome” to mean “complete” (e.g. “I’ll generate a fulsome report”) and other people have picked up that same usage (which I never or almost never hear being used outside of work). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 11:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/13 "2023-07-07T11:46:16Z")
I’ve never heard “on tomorrow”, but I have heard people say “on accident” meaning “by mistake” . ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/14 "2023-07-07T12:03:27Z")
> [@colinfred](#): > > **alovem** with the arrows was clearly talking about “at the weekend” which I would agree is standard English. not _that_ clear seeing as the words the arrows were pointing to were “I’ve never heard that” in response to “on tomorrow” ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/15 "2023-07-07T12:08:29Z")
Coincidentally, Mrs. solost just said it the other day, but she didn’t mean to-- she was going to say that we could do something on a certain day, like “on Thursday”, then realized mid-statement that the day was actually the following day and it came out “on tomorrow”. But it was a clear misspeak on her part. I teasingly said “ok, ‘on tomorrow’ it is then”. I’ve never heard it said intentionally. ---
**Author:** ![Jaycat.again](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jaycat.again/32/11525_2.png) [@Jaycat.again](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jaycat.again)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/16 "2023-07-07T12:11:21Z")
Never heard it, and I listen at a lot of people. ---
**Author:** ![alovem](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b38774/32.png) [@alovem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alovem)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/17 "2023-07-07T12:11:36Z")
> [@Monty](#): > > What I do hear, sadly, is “at the weekend”. “At the weekend” is standard UK English. There, that should be clear enough for **anyone** to understand. ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/18 "2023-07-07T12:22:45Z")
I also understand what “on tomorrow” means, but I’ve never heard it in use. Not sure if I’ve heard “at the weekend” > [@hogarth](#): > > At my work, there is one guy who likes to use the word “fulsome” to mean “complete” Ugh, I get this at work, too, mostly from Canadians. Maybe it’s a Canadian usage thing? > [@kayaker](#): > > I have heard people say “on accident” meaning “by mistake” Yes, I hear this more and more, too. Also, “purposefully” when they mean “purposely”. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/19 "2023-07-07T12:42:37Z")
“On accident” is interesting. It’s not the traditional usage, and sounds strange to my ear. And yet, it is precisely parallel to “on purpose,” so why shouldn’t it be correct? ---
**Author:** ![RitterSport](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rittersport/32/6326_2.png) [@RitterSport](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RitterSport)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2023, 12:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715/20 "2023-07-07T12:45:35Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > why shouldn’t it be correct? There are lots of things in language that “should be correct” but isn’t. Language is weird. I’m not saying “on accident” is wrong, of course. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-did-on-tomorrow-become-a-thing-language-use/986715.md?page=2)