The Transportation group at work (of which I am a part) went out for lunch together today to an excellent Vietnamese place in the north end. We all had the daily noodle bowl special which was fantastic. As we’re waiting for the food my boss mentions that we’re going to have a meeting next Monday for the whole group.
My immediate question was, “Next Monday…is that the Monday in 3 days or…”
Which has become a completely valid question!
I would love to meet the guy who decided to start the whole thing where next no longer means the next, but the one after the next. But you know what? People only think this is ok when dealing with days of the week.
You don’t hear anyone saying, “take the next right” when giving directions and actually meaning they are supposed to turn at the second road they come to. No, this means that you turn right onto the first road you come to on the right side.
Just imagine you’re standing in line at the bank. You wait until everyone in front of you is taken care of and you are now standing at the front of the line. The next teller to be available will call you up. What does that mean? Does that mean that first teller to become available will have to wait with no customer so that the second teller who becomes available will serve you? No. What if someone cuts in front of you right at the last minute? You indignantly exclaim, “Hey! I was next in line.” Does that mean that the person who cut in line was actually entitled to do that seeing as how you were only next in line which means there should have been someone in front of you? No.
But, many people out there (carefully not mentioning any names…) think that if I say the meeting is next Monday that means it will be held in 10 days, not 3. “Oh, no, you don’t understand, if I had meant the meeting was in 3 days I would have said this Monday not next Monday. Didn’t you get the memo? We changed the meaning of next while you were gone - but only in certain situations like when referring to days of the week.” /said in a drippingly condescending voice
No. You don’t get to change the meaning of a word arbitrarily like that. What I find most disturbing about this is that the word next has now become vague. It requires an additional question. For clarity sake the second question needs to be asked. Who are you talking to - someone who uses next properly (meaning next) or someone who uses the ridiculous improper form of next (meaning the one after the next)? You can’t not ask the second question. You might show up at the wrong time. If it is for something important (the flight leaves next Monday, the funeral is next Saturday, you will be killed by lethal injection next Wednesday) you can’t just leave it up to chance.
So, back to our lunchtime conversation. My boss immediately knew where I was going with my question and answered quite good naturedly that it was the Monday in 3 days. He took it in stride. He may have been familiar with the whole confusion inherent in the question…
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