Next Weekend?

[jackofallgeeks]

So, here's something I don't get: what's with the confusion over 'next
weekend' and 'this weekend'? When I speak, I use "this weekend" to refer to
the upcoming Fri-Sun cycle, and "next weekend" to refer to the weekend after
next week. (I guess my assumption is that the week 'ends' on Sunday; "and
the the 7th day he rested.") This seems perfectly reasonable to me, and
allows for "last weekend," "this weekend," and "next weekend" to have
distinct meanings. Yet it seems I'm constantly having trouble communicating
when people think I mean THIS weekend when, on say a Monday or Wednesday, I
talk about NEXT weekend. I can understand where they might get that meaning
from "next," but interpretting it like that obviously causes confusion. Am
I missing some kind of social cue for why my definitions aren't widely
accepted?

Comments

[quix.livejournal.com]

Technically the next weekend that people will encounter will be the immediately upcoming weekend. So while you're viewing "next weekend" the sense of only viewing the weekends in your mind, thus the upcoming weekend is already accounted for. For others unless the upcoming weekend isn't accounted for as it is still in the future, and as such, will be the "next weekend" that they will experience.

It's not a missing social cue, just a fault in the english language. :)

[tiel.livejournal.com]

I was going to say the same thing, only less eloquently.

Talking about "next" weekend and "this coming" weekend has always solved the problem for me.

[quix.livejournal.com]

Not sure how that would solve anything. People could still think you meant the weekend immediately upcoming when you said "next weekend" when you meant the weekend following.

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it only clears things up if there's something worthwhile to say about the upcoming weekend, which there often isn't.

[starlight1184.livejournal.com]

Oh my God. You have a Court Jester icon. I don't know who you are, but I love you.

[quix.livejournal.com]

Moi? :)

[jackofallgeeks.livejournal.com]

Rachel, meet Jason. He's a very cool buddy of mine.
Jason, meet Rachel. She's my very awesome cousin.

[starlight1184.livejournal.com]

:waves: Again. Awesome icon. There are so few people who know the awesomeness that is that movie. I'm glad Andrew knows two of us. ;-)

[metis2be.livejournal.com]

When I'm talking about next weekend, I've switched to saying the "weekend after next". I have the same problem as you, so I normally question dates to make sure we're talking about the same time period. Unfortunately since my watch broke I haven't known what day it's been for about two months now.

[bsgnome.livejournal.com]

Context clues our our friends.

In all technicality Sunday is the first day of the week, as "the Day of Rest," per Jewish Tradition, is the same as the Sabbath (Saturday). If you think of it in terms of the Genesis narrative:

Not to be taken as an exegetical interpretation. 1st Day, "Let there be light," Sunday (i.e. the Sun personifies Light) 2nd Day, Creation of Heaven, Monday (i.e. the Moon personifies Heaven) 3rd Day, Formation of the Earth, Tuesday (i.e. Tyr = Mars, who was initially not a god of war, but of fertility and vegetation,, livestock and fields; an earthen god; hence, Tyr personifies the formed Earth) 4th Day, Prescription of seasons and dominion of the Celestial Lights, Wednesday (i.e. Woden, or Odin, Lord of Asgard, his dominion is a reflection of dominion of the Lights; Odin personifies celestial dominion) 5th Day, Population of the Ocean and Sky, Thursday (i.e. Thor, as a sky god, personifies its inhabitants, and those of its mirror, the ocean) 6th Day, Creation of beasts and Man, Friday (i.e. Freya, Frigg, and Venus, each are fertility goddesses, as such they embody the divine command "Be fruitful and multiply"; Freya personifies Life on Earth) 7th Day, the Day of Rest, Saturday (Saturn = Chronos, progenitor gods, the Fathers of Creation; they stand in as being the closest Graeco-Roman analogues to the Judeo-Christian God)

All that done, the point is to establish that the Weekend actually consists of the two linear ends of the week (the ends being the first and last points of the line).

Regardless, when I say "this weekend," I mean to indicate the imminent weekend. The most recently passed weekend I'll refer to as "this past weekend," and the weekend following the imminent weekend is "next weekend". Should I be talking to someone during the weekend, then "this weekend" of course refers to the current weekend, "last weekend" was the weekend a week ago, and "next weekend" is the weekend a week from now.

[masqerade.livejournal.com]

Gene You are awesome! I would have to agree with you on how you refer to your weekends...I do it the same way.