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How would you interpret this?


If a meeting is "next Wednesday" when do you go?  

  1. 1. If a meeting is "next Wednesday" when do you go?

    • Wednesday, January 25th
      18
    • Wednesday, February 1st
      201
    • I can't be sure. I'd go to both just in case.
      7
    • Neither. If you can't be clear, it's not worth my time.
      2
    • Other
      14


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Other: I would confirm the date. I can see how you might state next Wednesday and mean the upcoming Wednesday, it is Monday after all. :tongue_smilie:Depends on if the communication was e-mail or verbal. Depends on if meetings are normally scheduled a week or more out. I would not presume either. But I'm particular about details like that.

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Other: I would confirm the date. I can see how you might state next Wednesday and mean the upcoming Wednesday, it is Monday after all. :tongue_smilie:Depends on if the communication was e-mail or verbal. Depends on if meetings are normally scheduled a week or more out. I would not presume either. But I'm particular about details like that.

 

 

:iagree: It is really easy for people to confuse the this Wed vs. next Wed thing. I would definitely seek clarification and not assume either.

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:iagree:

 

If he said "this Wednesday" I would mark my calendar for January 25th.

 

ETA: But I always think it is the most beneficial to state the DATE!

 

I would assume they mean on February 1st.

 

I would assume Feb. 1 but I would send them an e-mail just to confirm.

 

:iagree: with all of these.

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I said other. If you were in NYC it would be the Wednesday after the one coming up. The one coming up is "this Wednesday". I grew up in the midwest, and next is NEXT (people!) "This" and "next" are the same. The following Wednesday is "a week from Wednesday", or the "Wednesday after next".

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I said other. If you were in NYC it would be the Wednesday after the one coming up. The one coming up is "this Wednesday". I grew up in the midwest, and next is NEXT (people!) "This" and "next" are the same. The following Wednesday is "a week from Wednesday", or the "Wednesday after next".

 

I'm in the Midwest, and I don't know anyone who would say (today) that "next Wednesday" is this coming Wednesday.

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I'm in the Midwest, and I don't know anyone who would say (today) that "next Wednesday" is this coming Wednesday.

 

I'm in the Midwest too and am guilty of saying "this next Wednesday" before. Which would obviously confuse all of you. I would, however, clarify the DATE for you, not simply the DAY.

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It depends. If you said "next Wednesday" and it is Monday, then I assume you mean the Wednesday next week. If you had said next "Wednesday" before Monday (meaning last week or weekend) then I would assume you mean the Wednesday coming up in the week coming up.

 

However, I've found that people always assume something different than what the scheduler of the meeting intended, so I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS clarify what I mean by saying "Wednesday, Feb. 1st" so there is NO miscommunication. I really hate it when people don't clarify the name of a day by including the actual date. The date is always just the one date. Wednesdays happen 52 times a year.

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I grew up in the midwest, and next is NEXT (people!) "This" and "next" are the same. The following Wednesday is "a week from Wednesday", or the "Wednesday after next".

 

I grew up in the Midwest, too, and still live here, and I have never heard this. Everyone I know says "this" for this week and "next" for next week. "Wednesday after next" is two weeks from now.

 

Tara

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I'm a very literal person. To me "next" means just that ... the very next one. This got me by in life quite well until I moved to middle America, where apparently "next" means not literally next but the following.

 

I thought I was just crazy, but posts here have confirmed that it's just the middle American way. This has been a huge relief to read! :D

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Interesting corollary: the driver's ed school my son is going to gives parents coaching on how to ... coach their kids in driving. They said that if you say, "Take the next right..." 50% of drivers think it is the VERY next right and 50% think it the one AFTER the very next right. Their point? Be clear.

 

Huh, that is a great comparison. I would think it is the very next right. :confused: But I don't with "next Wednesday." Am I an oxymoron or what?!?!?!

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Let's say today is January 23, 2012.

 

Someone you work with comes up to you and says there is to be a meeting "next Wednesday" at 8am that you must be present at.

 

What does that mean to you?

 

I haven't read the rest of the responses, but for ME it means that I need to ask the person for clarification in the form of an actual date because I know I'm not good at interpreting this sort of statement and would probably get it all wrong.

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:lol: I had to laugh when I say this pole. My family is always debating over the answer to this type of question. Everyone in my family, except my mom, would agree that next wed. would mean Feb. 1 and saying this wed. would mean Jan. 25th. My mom disagrees strongly with us and would say that next wed. means Jan. 25th. As she would argue, "Jan. 25th is the next wed. we will encounter." So at my house asking a question like this would result in a longer debate then I am sure anyone here would be interested in hearing!:lol:

 

By the way we have confused dates before because of my moms' differing definition of the use of next Wed (or whatever day) than ours. Now I make sure I clarify what particular date she is referring to.

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Other.

 

I would have to ask. I would think Jan 25, because that is the next Wed. I have come to realize that many, many people don't see it like that, so I always ask for a date.

 

Basically what Kalanamak said is how I would think about it. The end result of this is my husband and I always speak in regards to specific dates! :lol:

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Honestly, I'd clarify on the spot. But I'm a little OCD about being on time. :tongue_smilie:

 

I would instantly assume they meant the NEXT week and not THIS Wednesday. But, I would also instantly wonder which one they meant. I prefer to deal in specific dates and I always verify that when making appointments. I've had receptionists looking at the wrong week before. *I'VE* been looking at the wrong week before.

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I don't get the point of the poll.. Who cares what we think. What matters is what THEY thought and you should have asked a follow up question on the spot. My dad always taught me never to assume anything because it makes an a** out of u and me ( see how to spell assume!)

Edited by choirfarm
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I'm in the Midwest, and I don't know anyone who would say (today) that "next Wednesday" is this coming Wednesday.

 

:lol: Well, I voted that next Wednesday is this coming Wednesday, and I'm in Ohio. I'm never sure if Ohio is the Midwest or not. :tongue_smilie: But, I also did say that I would ask for clarification of the date.

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Interesting corollary: the driver's ed school my son is going to gives parents coaching on how to ... coach their kids in driving. They said that if you say, "Take the next right..." 50% of drivers think it is the VERY next right and 50% think it the one AFTER the very next right. Their point? Be clear.

 

The "the" makes a difference. The next right means the very next one.

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It depends. If you said "next Wednesday" and it is Monday, then I assume you mean the Wednesday next week. If you had said next "Wednesday" before Monday (meaning last week or weekend) then I would assume you mean the Wednesday coming up in the week coming up.

 

...

 

This, exactly. I'd confirm.

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I don't get the point of the poll.. Who cares what we think. What matters is what THEY thought and you should have asked a follow up question on the spot. My dad always taught me never to assume anything because it makes an a** out of u and me ( see how to spell assume!)

 

What's the point of most of the polls on this board? :confused:

 

It was a question as to how the people here would interpret a comment like that, nothing more.

 

The question I asked was how the people on this board would interpret that and which day "next Wednesday" would mean to them. I never asked which day I should go to a meeting or what I should do.

 

In fact, I don't work outside the house and if there is some sort of meeting "next Wednesday" it doesn't affect anybody I know. :tongue_smilie:

 

You're the one assuming this question is highly relevant to my life. :tongue_smilie: It was just a question. :)

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