English Language & Usage: Multi-Layered Discourse Room

skullpatrol

21:00

How long des it take to get an edit peer reviewed?

"This edit will be visible only to you until it is peer reviewed."

user19161

@skullpatrol I will review it for you now...

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Please :-)

user19161

@skullpatrol I think you are changing it too much don't you think?

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Adding a calender diagram changes it?

user19161

@skullpatrol Firstly, too many characters are added. Secondly, the diagram does not really make things clearer.

user19161

21:03

So I think this does not preserve the flavour of the original post, though the meaning is retained.

user19161

Anyway, someone else has taken care of it.

JSBձոգչ

there. ran out of close votes and delete votes for the day.

user19161

@JSBձոգչ Well done!

tchrist

@JSBձոգչ Good.

JSBձոգչ

now i'm tired and must do some actual work

skullpatrol

21:05

@JasperLoy For me visualization helps me understand this problem, Sir :-D

user19161

I just got 25 from the waterproof question. Yay!

user19161

2

Q: Single word for the quality of being waterproof — "waterproofness", "waterproofity", something else?

If someone is happy, I can refer to that state as that person's happiness. If a watch is waterproof, do I refer to the watch's waterproofness, waterproofity, or what? TFD has an entry that fits for happy, but not for waterproof. I realize resistance is related ("I have a water resistant watch....

tchrist

And your ɢʀ tricks for free.

I mean, it’s not like he bothered to check a dictionary first.

user19161

Yes, one must also know which word to look for and which dictionary to look for, so I certainly deserve the points.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy What do you mean "by someone else has taken care of it" ,Sir?

user19161

21:07

@skullpatrol I did not approve or reject your edit.

tchrist

@JasperLoy I’m not saying you don’t deserve the points.

I’m saying that the question ought never have been opened.

user19161

@tchrist I'm not saying you said that either.

tchrist

This “which dictionary to look in” thing might count for incredibly super-hyper-mega-specialist vocabulary, but not for general English found in any non-toy dictionary.

Don’t you think?

user19161

Well, I think if it is not found in an advanced learner's dictionary, it is OK to ask here.

tchrist

Ug.

user19161

21:10

One cannot consider the OED to be the be all and end all.

user19161

And again, many people do not have access to it.

tchrist

@JasperLoy Is that what you cited?

user19161

@tchrist No, I did not cite the OED as I do not have it and will also never subscribe to it.

tchrist

Oh, so it was something just generally available for free out there on the Internet, then?

I rest my case.

user19161

I linked to ODO which really is approximately the ODE.

tchrist

21:11

That is the very definition of ɢʀ.

user19161

Still I think jwpat's answer is helpful.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy How do I find out if my edit is approved?

user19161

@skullpatrol Did you gain 2 points?

user19161

@skullpatrol It was rejected.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Is there an appeal process?

user19161

21:16

Reason given was too minor.

user19161

@skullpatrol You can raise on meta, but I would agree with the rejection as well. I only delayed it because you are my bro.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Adding a diagram is too minor?

user19161

@skullpatrol In this case, I feel that the post itself is clear enough.

user19161

@skullpatrol Also, adding that diagram changes the flavour of the original post.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy In what way, bro :-D

user19161

21:19

@skullpatrol The difference is an entire diagram the original author did not intend to be there.

user19161

So I could have rejected it as changing too much of the intent of the author.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy But the confusion here is that the OP doesn't understand what the phrase "end of the week" and "weekend" means, bro/pal :)

user19161

@skullpatrol The text itself has brought out the meaning.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist while answers such as jwpat's might make this a PITA to close, "no research effort" is a valid reason for downvoting. Which is free on questions to boot.

user19161

@RegDwightАΑA But just to add, OP did do some research as can be seen.

RegDwight АΑA

21:25

True. More than most people do anyway.

user19161

We cannot expect everyone to check 9000 dictionaries. One is enough.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Did you read my answer?

RegDwight АΑA

I'm just saying, if you think X, here's what the system has on offer for you.

user19161

@skullpatrol Of course I read your suggested edit.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Not the edit to the question, but my answer to the question, Sir :-D

0

A: using phrase "weekend of"

Personally, I would not talk about the weekend of the 24th: S_M_T_W_Th_F_S 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 I would say the weekend of the 22nd or 23rd. Also the weekend of the 29th or 30th. The week of the 24th has weekend days of the 23rd and 29th, those are the days that...

ΜετάEd

21:27

If y'all are going to discuss this question all afternoon could you provide a link to it for the crowd?

Thank you.

skullpatrol

np

user19161

@skullpatrol Yes, I think it is fine.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy But not worthy of your approval?

ΜετάEd

When you think the question is based on a misunderstanding, you generally do not edit the question to ask the question you think the OP should have asked. Does that help?

user19161

@skullpatrol Well, I upvoted your answer. Nonetheless, I did not like the last line. For different people, the week starts on different days.

skullpatrol

21:31

@ΜετάEd I only added a calender?

user19161

Calendars in the US start on Sunday, while those in UK start on Monday.

user19161

Using ISO, the week starts on Monday, not Sunday.

skullpatrol

What is "ISO"?

user19161

@skullpatrol International Standards Organization.

user19161

They define and standardize a lot of things so that people can agree.

skullpatrol

21:33

@JasperLoy Which is based in the UK?

user19161

@skullpatrol I don't know, but it is an international reference.

ΜετάEd

When people refer to an upcoming weekend, it typically means the upcoming Saturday and Sunday.

2

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

> ISO (International Organization for Standardization) is the world’s largest developer of voluntary International Standards.

skullpatrol

@JasperLoy Well, if you look at it that way, the Chinese calender is used by more actual people than any other single calender, no?

user19161

@skullpatrol The ISO is what it is, no more no less.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

21:36

@skullpatrol which "Chinese Calendar"?

For day-to-day things China, like almost all countries, use the Gregorian Calendar.

user19161

SI units are what they are, no more no less.

user19161

Not everyone uses SI units.

user19161

So although I don't like mile and pound, I have to get used to seeing it.

user19161

Note again that Robusto's foot is exactly one foot long.

skullpatrol

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Does the "Gregorian Calendar" start the week on a Sunday?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

21:42

@skullpatrol it doesn't define what a week is or when it starts.

tchrist

@JasperLoy Some people might say they don’t like seeing blacks or indians, but they have to get used to seeing them.

skullpatrol

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 hmm... how ambiguous :-(

tchrist

@skullpatrol Why should a calendar define such a silly thing? It defines days and months.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@skullpatrol not really. the local culture decides on those details. It never used to matter if two regions had different definitions of "weekend". They probably spoke different languages and they didn't have printed calendars made in a foreign country.

ΜετάEd

For the purpose of the question, this whole discussion of what day the calendar week "begins on" is moot. The question is just what do people generally mean by "the weekend of". That could be the same everywhere, or it could be regional, but it is not determined by the ISO.

tchrist

21:48

The weekend is the longest portion of time during the week spent not working.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist No, that's not so. There are many uses for a week number. And one wants to know whether a given day is in week 3 or week 4, for example.

tchrist

@ΜετάEd I don’t know what that means, and neither do you.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@ΜετάEd There are NOW, but in the past that was not the case. So the Gregorian Calendar didn't concern itself with week numbers.

tchrist

A given day is in week (1 + int(days/7)). Trivial.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist Ah, "strong agnosticism" :-)

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 I was not addressing the Gregorian Calendar. My comment was in response to @tchrist's question, why should a calendar define when a week starts.

@tchrist Unless it's not.

Accountants, for example, do lots of strange things with time periods.

tchrist

21:51

3 days from now is in week 1
7 days from now is in week 1
8 days from now is in week 2
14 days from now is in week 2
15 days from now is in week 3
50 days from now is in week 8
124 days from now is in week 18

skullpatrol

@tchrist It is not trivial for this question, Sir. english.stackexchange.com/questions/77353/…

ΜετάEd

Don't confuse rational, simple, consistent conventions with the conventions people actually use.

tchrist

The question of how many weeks from now is N days from now is trivial.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist Now you really must be a consultant.

tchrist

Days 1–7 is this week. Days 8–14 is the 2nd week hence. Days 15-21 is in the 3rd week hence. Et cetera. Nothing could be simpler.

Given that today is day 1.

RegDwight АΑA

21:54

0

Q: This weekend vs Next weekend

Possible Duplicate: What day is next Tuesday? Imagine that it's Monday, the 1st. The weekend would be the 7th & 8th. How do you refer properly to the coming weekend, "This weekend" or "Next weekend"? I believe that using "next weekend" would refer to the 14th & 15th and "this ...

meaning idioms terminology

skullpatrol

@RegDwightАΑA Good job!!!

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA Non-native speakers can never get that right.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@skullpatrol That question is just plain wrong in its premise. The weekend of Monday is not a valid concept unless it's a long weekend and monday is a holiday. "The weekend of <day X>" only makes sense if day X is a weekend day. Otherwise you might as well say "The weekend of purple"

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist hold on.

0

Q: "This Saturday" or "Next Saturday"?

Possible Duplicate: Which day does “next Tuesday” refer to? Is “this Monday” or “next Monday” the correct way to refer to the very next Monday in the future? “Next Friday” vs. “This Friday” Meaning of “last/this/next Monday” The nearest saturday is saturday 12th. The...

word-choice adjectives time

Look at the list at the top of this one.

These are not all pineapples.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Yeah people use "this X/next X" in confusing ways.

skullpatrol

21:56

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Yes, my answer to the question says that :)

tchrist

So you’re saying that nohat is not a native speaker but got it right, and so my conjecture has an exception?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

In some other languages there are strict rules. In English both interpretations are possible.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 No, they are not.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist heh.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist Well, they ARE, because I often hear people using them both ways.

tchrist

21:57

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Sure.

skullpatrol

S_M_T_W_Th_F_S

16 17 18 19 20 21 22

23 24 25 26 27 28 29

30 31

tchrist

There cannot be a next Blahday within the same week as the current one.

skullpatrol

Was rejected as an edit.

RegDwight АΑA

Anyway. I'm proof to the contrary. So put your conjecture in a hat and eat it.

At the same time, native speakers of American, Canadian, and Her Majesty's Very Own English can't tell "next" from a hole in the ground.

tchrist

I thought you were exempt as an interesting party.

RegDwight АΑA

21:59

This is the first time anyone has called me interesting.

Or party, for that matter.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist And yet, despite your assertion, people continue to say it that way.

tchrist

Don’t let it go to your head.

RegDwight АΑA

It's in my foot now.

tchrist

And fail to be understood.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist because it's ambiguous: too many people use it the "wrong" way

tchrist

22:00

This Blahday by definition is the one that occurs within the current week.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

you can't assume that the speaker is following your "correct" convention or not

tchrist

Otherwise this and that are meaningless.

RegDwight АΑA

Well, he can assume.

tchrist

Go ahead, try to convince me they are meaningless. This should be good.

RegDwight АΑA

9

Q: Using "that" and "this" interchangeably

Learning and using English I'm always confused about what word to use for referring to things that have been described by me a few sentences earlier: "that" or "this". Confusion comes from the fact that only the equivalent of "this" is always used in my native language for such referring. But I...

word-choice esl

Doubleplusgood.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:01

LOL

RegDwight АΑA

6

Q: Is there a clear delineation between the usages of 'this' and 'that' in American English?

One of my linguistics professors speaks English as a second language, and remarked that she never knows which of the two is appropriate. Given a list of examples, all native speakers in the classroom were able to unanimously agree on which to use, but we couldn't give exact rules. The closest we...

differences american-english semantics determiners

3

Q: "… things like this." vs. "… things like that."

Yesterday on talk radio an interviewee speaking about Sudanese Northerner's being forced into the mountains and away from their farmlands by the Sudanese Army said the result was: The men would leave and go foraging to gather nuts and berries, things like this. I don't know where exactly th...

word-choice grammaticality determiners

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA I assure you, in the small fishing village I come from it forms the sole topic of conversation.

RegDwight АΑA

Etc. I'm bored so I'll stop.

@tchrist I saw your fishing village earlier today. It's neither fishing nor a village.

It's a grim car hole.

tchrist

Remarkably, everyone within this set of 3 individuals knows precisely what each other means when they say this-vs-that day.

@RegDwightАΑA You mistake where I am with where I come from.

RegDwight АΑA

I knew you would say that, of course.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:04

anyway, @tchrist, I'm with you: "this week" and "next week" and "this sunday" and "next sunday" should all be unambiguous. But they aren't all the time. You can say that it's because other people are wrong if you want. Doesn't stop them from being wrong.

tchrist

Ah, so you know where I’m coming from then. Good.

RegDwight АΑA

You're getting too predictable. Not good. Not good at all.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 You’re right. I can’t stop people from being idiots.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

If today is Monday, what day is "this Sunday"?

tchrist

Are you out of your mind?

This Sunday is the next Sunday to occur.

If you are in the present or future tenses.

If you are in the past tense, it is the last Sunday to have already occurred.

It is the same thing, exactly the same, but for the sign bit.

RegDwight АΑA

22:06

What if I'm trapped in aorist?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist wow, so "this sunday" has two different meanings?

tchrist

No.

It has exactly one meaning.

It is the first Sunday you come to.

That's what it's a this.

You probably think the day gets longer or shorter just because you change in or out of DST, too.

This Sunday is always the first first one you come to.

It doesn’t matter whether you are looking forward or backward, it is always the first one.

Therefore, it has the same meaning.

DFN

Next you’ll be telling me that "my birthday" means something different this year than it meant last year, or than it shall mean next year. Bollocks to that noise.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@tchrist So if you are asking about when an event occurs, and you don't know if it has or has not occured yet, and someone answers "this sunday", you don't know if it's past or future.

tchrist

Of course you do.

Present tense.

Q: When does your mother get her hair cut? A: This Sunday.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So if today is Thursday the 16th and we're talking about the future, "this sunday" refers to the 19th.

tchrist

22:11

Absolutely zero ambiguity.

RegDwight АΑA

 🃟  1F0DF       CONVERSATION GOING OVER MY HEAD
        * may also be someone else's right arm

tchrist

None.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

And yet I know lots of people who will insist that it's patently nonsense for "this X" to refer to a day in NEXT week.

"This sunday" is the sunday in the current week, and it never moves depending on tense or whatnot.

tchrist

this past/last Sunday and this next Sunday are used if you don’t know whether you are coming or going.

But anybody who answer a when does/will something happen with a "this day", ALWAYS means it is yet to occur. There is no ambiguity. That’s why the qualifiers exist.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 Utter nonsense.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Did you read nohat's answer?

tchrist

22:13

What, again?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

He agrees with what I just wrote

18

A: Which day does "next Tuesday" refer to?

To me, “next Tuesday” means the Tuesday that comes next week. For example, on Monday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 13, “next Tuesday” means October 19. Whereas on Monday, October 18, “next Tuesday” means October 26. “This Tuesday” refers to the Tuesday that comes this week, which on Wednesda...

RegDwight АΑA

Oh crap. Jinx.

tchrist

Have you gone to work this week?

Yes, I did it just this Tuesday.

Bingo to both of you.

Proof by existence.

That’s the previous Tuesday, even though it is this, because it is in the past tense.

And you know that's what it means. Don't prevaricate.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

My point, @tchrist, is that you yourself are placing "this X" in two different weeks depending on context.

tchrist

My birthday is in 49 different years depending on context.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:15

Some people, eg nohat, argue that one of your usages is incorrect.

tchrist

So what?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

You argue that some other usages are incorrect

RegDwight АΑA

Proof of existence of X is not disproof of the existence of ¬X.

tchrist

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 That’s nice. Wanna see my NS licence?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

The point is that there is not widespread agreement on this

tchrist

22:16

I have never been in disagreement. I am perfectly self-consistent.

RegDwight АΑA

The emphasis is on self, though.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

You can prescribe whatever usage you want. Your usage makes sense. However you can't disagree that other people have different usage and their usage might also be self-consistent but not consistent with yours.

tchrist

You cannot begin to suggest that "I did it just this Tuesday" is ungrammatical, ambiguous, or meaning anything than two days ago.

Go ahead, make my day.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Sure, I can suggest that.

tchrist

You’re blathering.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:17

Just like "I made less dollars today" is ungrammatical to some people.

tchrist

Let me go interview people on the street.

I hear them outside.

I'll be right back.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Anyone who has internalized "less vs fewer" will grate whenever they hear one of the "forbidden" uses of "less". And anyone who internalizes different-than-tchrists's rules for "this tuesday" will grate when they hear you use it "wrong".

RegDwight АΑA

This is getting funner by the second.

Too bad the room is dead. There should be more people following.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

where's Cerb when we need a pedantic prescriptivist, eh?

RegDwight АΑA

@Cerb is chewing grand pianos in the basement.

Anyway I have no idea why tchrist even bothers with the interview. His questions will be suggestive and his interviewees will be speaking his dialect.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:21

Dammit Cerb, those piano legs don't grow on trees!

@RegDwightАΑA is he actually interviewing people?

RegDwight АΑA

Why not. He's crazy like that.

He could be sipping martinis and playing piano, too.

Everything is possible at zombo.com

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Today I learned about the Helvetica Scenario.

RegDwight АΑA

Fill me in.

►

This or what?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

yeah

I googled it because some game I'm playing has a thing where you tap the NPC's thought bubbles and their thoughts appear, and some of them keep referring to being close to a Helvetica Scenario.

RegDwight АΑA

I don't get the video.

I suppose it's a parody, but of what?

ΜετάEd

22:26

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 The problem isn't with "this Sunday". It's with "next Sunday".

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

@RegDwightАΑA education videos

@ΜετάEd it's both

RegDwight АΑA

I do wonder why we have no questions about past Sundays, past Tuesdays, and past Wednesdays.

ΜετάEd

or "last".

RegDwight АΑA

Yes.

ΜετάEd

Well, now that you have brought it up …

RegDwight АΑA

22:28

I'm specifically using past (or future) to avoid stepping into this nest of nests.

ΜετάEd

In other words, now it's all going to be your fault.

It's going to have been all your fault, then.

RegDwight АΑA

I'm teh pwner of this room. Everything in here is my fault.

ΜετάEd

Or perhaps it mayan willen fore-when be your fault.

tchrist

Well, I learned something I didn’t know.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist What was it.

RegDwight АΑA

22:32

The Sun revolves around the Earth.

tchrist

You can’t use "last blahday" within either a few days, or for some people the current week, without it meaning the one from the week before.

RegDwight АΑA

It's a bingo.

Just what Ed was pointing out right there.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

success!

For my next trick, I'm going to convince tchrist that NO words have any defined meanings

tchrist

None of them found "I did it just this past Tuesday" exceptional. They told me you can’t use "last Tuesday" for day before yesterday. It only means 9 days ago.

That's what I didn't know.

I tried "just this Wednesday", but that one didn’t work. They wanted me to say yesterday there.

"This past Tuesday" was ok though. And "last Tuesday" was a week prior to that.

You can’t use "last Tuesday" for this week. Last Tuesday by definition seem to have to be part of last week, not this week.

I was only thinking of this, not last.

Just like yesterday wasn’t last Wednesday. Last Wednesday for them was last week’s Wednesday.

Does that make any sense, though?

I think last is last week, this is this week, next is next week.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

It sounds like "last" = last week, "this" = this week, and "next" = next week

jinx

tchrist

22:36

jynx

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

jincks

tchrist

There is some semblance of a pattern there, no?

But Sunday was last Sunday.

I have a strong feeling it is because it is 4 days.

Not because it was somehow on a week boundary, whatever that means.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

there is a pattern. But especially when talking about the future, some people will say "this sunday" to mean the coming sunday, others will say "next sunday" and probably it matters if you consider sunday to be at the start or the end of the week too.

tchrist

I'm thinking that there is a current week in which you are always at the exact center.

When you get outside that 3–4 day transition point either direction, it’s not your current week anymore.

Except that's wrong, too.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist But the statements about last or past Tuesday are not about the week. They are about a day.

@tchrist And the size of that cloud will differ a little from person to person.

tchrist

22:39

"I did it just this Tuesday" was not found to be weird by any of the five people.

However, I must confess that they were all over 45.

Time is in a hurry by then.

ΜετάEd

@tchrist Are you expecting, or assuming, that people will, by and large, have a mathematically precise definition they use of "last week" or "last Tuesday"?

tchrist

Last Tuesday is the Tuesday from last week. I bet it always is.

ΜετάEd

I'm willing to bet not only that people don't have one, but that they'll answer the same question differently depending on how you ask it.

tchrist

It might be if it’s over a half-week away, though.

That's what I still don't know.

My neighbors are nice people. Maybe they just like to say things to make me happy.

But I doubt it.

More likely I’m Clever Hans.

Well, or they are.

And don't know it.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

So there you go. There is no definitive answer based on usage.

tchrist

22:42

I didn't say that.

I said none found my initial sentence exceptional.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

rolls eyes your own usage differs from theirs

tchrist

Read, ungrammatical.

And all knew exactly what I meant.

It was only when I started trying different days that I started to get different answers.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

There are lots of cases to consider. What is customarily the start of the week, S or M? What is today? How long ago/from now is the day in question? etc.

tchrist

Repeat: "I did that just this Tuesday", asked today on Thursday, was universally held to be a perfectly unambiguous and unexceptional statement, and all knew it meant day before yesterday.

That was what I went out to test, because you said it was somehow ungrammatical and/or ambiguous.

I found no data to support that position.

I found other things that I didn't know, and stuff that I still don't know.

But that part was not debated.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

No, I said that nohat, for one, would argue that you couldn't, on a Wednesday, say "I'm going to do that this Tuesday"

tchrist

22:45

Hm.

That's somewhat different.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

Or on a Sunday say "I did that just this Saturday"

tchrist

You have to say "I'm going to do that this coming Tuesday" if yesterday was Tuesday.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

because for nohat and lots of other people, "this" always means "this calendar week". For others, "this" varies depending on the context.

tchrist

I think it varies by how far away from you it is.

You stand at the partition.

Distance fore and aft I THINK are the same but for sign.

But maybe that's because I'm sitting on Thursday.

Where is David Wallace? He’s from tomorrow. We could ask him.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

If today is "Thursday", what is "this Thursday"?

tchrist

22:49

That's different, because there is no Thursday within a week of you, or a half-week, but the one you are on. I’d think you were being weaselly for today. Are you?

ΜετάEd

I have never heard anyone say "this Thursday" on Thursday, period.

You'll hear "today" or "next Thursday".

cornbread ninja

oh good, you're still discussing this.

tchrist

Because there is no Thursday in your current weekview.

ΜετάEd

or "last Thursday".

tchrist

Right.

ΜετάEd

22:50

@cornbreadninja It's got a life of its own.

cornbread ninja

I get my braces off Monday next. To which date am I referring?

tchrist

All the Thursdays are farther away than in this obtains.

@cornbreadninja ˙spɹɐʍʞɔɐq ƃuᴉʞɐəds əɹ,noʎ əsnɐɔəq ʻʍouʞ ʇ,uop ʎןןɐəɹ I

ΜετάEd

@cornbreadninja 20 August.

tchrist

Good luck searching for that one, @Reg. :)

cornbread ninja

@tchrist sighs, rearranges word magnets on the refrigerator Next Monday.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

22:52

@tchrist If I heard someone say "this thursday" on a thursday, and I had no reason to think they were being sneaky, I'd assume they meant this coming thursday, but I'd probably ask for clarification.

cornbread ninja

@ΜετάEd bzzt

I'd simply call that "Monday" from today's standpoint.

ΜετάEd

@cornbreadninja Not sure if that's the "winner" buzzer or the "bozo" buzzer. Either way thank you for buzzing me in.

tchrist

@cornbreadninja That’s what I said before.

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

anyway, this has been entertaining, but I must go.

cornbread ninja

@ΜετάEd It was just a bzzt.

ΜετάEd

22:53

@cornbreadninja It doesn't matter what you mean, though, does it. It matters what the English speaking public is likely to think you meant.

tchrist

@cornbreadninja Is "Monday next" Commonspeak, or American?

Mr. Shiny and New 安宇

see you all this/next Friday.

cornbread ninja

@ΜετάEd That depends on which slice of the English-speaking public hears or reads me.

@Mr.ShinyandNew安宇 tomorrow?

ΜετάEd

@cornbreadninja Certainly.

cornbread ninja

@ΜετάEd Let's talk Monday. Let's talk next Monday.

@tchrist shrugs teenagedly

ΜετάEd

22:55

@cornbreadninja If you wanted me to think 27 August, you'd have to say "a week from Monday". In other locales I think you'd have to say "Monday week".

tchrist

@cornbreadninja Surely the first one means this Monday, and so must needs be distinct from next Monday?

cornbread ninja

@ΜετάEd oh yeah, that question!

ΜετάEd

@cornbreadninja To me those seem identical.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist huh which one?

cornbread ninja

welcome to the working week / oh I know it don't thrill ya, I hope it don't kill ya

ΜετάEd

22:55

@KitFox.

KitFox

Evening.

cornbread ninja

invites @KitFox to trot

tchrist

@RegDwightАΑA ˙uoᴉʇɔəɹᴉp ƃuoɹʍ əɥʇ ƃuᴉuunɹ ƃuᴉɥʇʎɹəʌə ɥʇᴉʍ əʇoɹʍ I ʇɐɥʇ əuo əɥʇ

cornbread ninja

Time to practice my Copperplate.

KitFox

@cornbreadninja slow, slow, quick, quick

tchrist

22:57

@cornbreadninja REALLY?

That is so cool.

I mean it, honest.

RegDwight АΑA

@tchrist so you are saying I wouldn't be able to find this, say?

Mar 30 '11 at 15:03, by RegDwight

OMG. uɐʇɐs uʍop-ǝpısdn!

cornbread ninja

@tchrist not to belabor the point, but I wanted to say that of all, lefties have the Copperplate advantage.

KitFox

one, two, hop-step

cornbread ninja

and yes. And I'll take a picture soon.

tchrist

¡sɐuɐʇɐs ʻəɯ oɹʇəɹ əpɐʌ

cornbread ninja

22:58

sdrawkcab

tchrist

@Reg Do you have my thingie?

cornbread ninja

raises eyebrow

RegDwight АΑA

Mar 30 '11 at 11:06, by RegDwight

¿dıɥsuɐɯuʍop-ǝpısdn uɐǝɯ noʎ ʎןuıɐʇɹǝɔ

KitFox

Am I the only one trotting here?

tchrist

        tr [abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyzɐqɔpəɟ⅁ɥᴉ□ʞlɯuodbɹƨʇnʌʍxʎ□]
           [ɐqɔpəɟ⅁ɥᴉ□ʞlɯuodbɹsʇnʌʍxʎ□abcdefghijklmnopqrstuvwxyz];

        tr [ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZɐqƆpƎℲ⅁ɥI□ʞ⅂ƜИOdbᴚƨʇnɅMX⅄□]
           [ɐqƆpƎℲ⅁ɥI□ʞ⅂ƜИOdbᴚsʇnɅMX⅄□ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ];

tr [-¯_#&'"“”‘’!¡?¿,.]
   [-_¯#⅋'"„□□,¡!¿?ʻ˙];

ΜετάEd

22:59

@KitFox Mind if I cut in?

KitFox

@ΜετάEd not at all.

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English Language & Usage: Multi-Layer…