# When does "next Friday" mean "Friday after next"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 13, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586 "2007-10-13T16:03:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![iwakura43](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/9de0a6/32.png) [@iwakura43](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iwakura43)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/1 "2007-10-13T16:03:21Z")
Perhaps this has been discussed before, but it’s difficult to search for. Today I invited a friend to go to a show with me “next Friday.” Today being Saturday, it seems clear that the day I mean is the upcoming Friday, i.e., six days from now. Had I said “Friday after next,” 13 days from now would be the implication. Now, if I had called instead on Thursday and referred to “next Friday,” ISTM the average person would think I meant nine days later–that is, the same as “Friday after next.” Probably the same would be true if I had called Wednesday. GQ-wise, is there a conventional meaning, whether widely known or not, of the term “next \_\_\_\_-day”? ---
**Author:** ![feppytweed](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/feppytweed/32/4280_2.png) [@feppytweed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/feppytweed)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/2 "2007-10-13T16:06:50Z")
If it is 6 days or less until the day in question, it is “this x”. Like today, if I wanted to go to a movie on the 19th, I would say, "Do you want to go to a movie this Friday. If I meant going on the 26th, I would say next Friday, and if I meant November 2nd, then I would say Friday after next. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/3 "2007-10-13T16:47:00Z")
Or, if you don’t mean “this” Friday, some folks say, “Friday a week”, meaning at least a full week will pass before the intended day. ---
**Author:** ![gazpacho](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/6f9a4e/32.png) [@gazpacho](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gazpacho)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/4 "2007-10-13T16:51:44Z")
It has been discussed a lot here. I never saw anything close to a consensus. I always ask for clarification. ---
**Author:** ![Sarahfeena](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sarahfeena/32/519_2.png) [@Sarahfeena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sarahfeena)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/5 "2007-10-13T17:08:04Z")
I find “next” in this context extremely confusing. I tend to say “this friday” (or “this coming friday”) and “the friday after this one.” ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/6 "2007-10-13T18:40:14Z")
I avoid this and similar expressions. I’m a native speaker of English, and I don’t even know what it means. ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/7 "2007-10-13T19:00:14Z")
I’m a nerd. I’ll say “How 'bout a movie Friday? That’d be the 19th.” A little simple clarification can prevent a big mess. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/8 "2007-10-13T19:01:27Z")
I think the cutoff would be at the start of the current week Monday (I know the week really starts on Sunday, but not in practical life). If you told me, “Let’s go to the movies next Friday” I would take it to mean on: Sat: the real next Fri. Sun: the real next Fri Mon-Fri: the following Fri… ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/9 "2007-10-13T19:23:09Z")
More or less like this : If this is Friday-Sunday, “Next”= the upcoming Friday. Thursday= “next” means a week from tommorrow. No doubt. Monday, Tues, Wednesday= it’s unclear, ask for a clarification. 😃_Usually_ here, “next” means Friday a week hence. But “this upcoming Friday” leaves no doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [October 13, 2007, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/10 "2007-10-13T19:29:34Z")
You know a real simple way? Instead of piling rule upon rule, and exception upon exception, let’s have “next” mean “next”. It is “next” whether we are one day or seven days away. “Next” whether the week begins on Sunday or on Monday. “Next” means what it says: “next” — “coming immediately after the time of writing or speaking”. End of confusion. ---
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/11 "2007-10-14T00:56:11Z")
There is absolutely no standard. Although I agree with **Walloon** that that makes sense, there is no force in the world that could make everyone use and interpret it that way. So, to avoid confusion I refer to it as the soonest Friday, or by date if I know it offhand. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [October 14, 2007, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-does-next-friday-mean-friday-after-next/422586/12 "2007-10-14T02:59:17Z")
My family has always used the “Friday week” formation. It’s very useful, and I wish it was more commonly used. Friday 5th: “last Friday week” Friday 12th: “last Friday” **Today, Sunday 14th** Friday 19th: “this Friday” Friday 26th: “Friday week”