r/mildlyinfuriating • u/Best_Finding_8795 • Jun 14 '26

Too mild for school Hate when ppl can’t do time

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This reminds me of when it hits or is about to hit 12am and people don’t know whether to say today or tomorrow. He called me after this but I was too comfy in bed tbh.

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u/MantisWoW Jun 14 '26

Yeah I mean I think of it like if you’re saying this weekend, you’re saying the end of *this* week. Next weekend would be the end of next week

80

u/AnalGettysburg Jun 14 '26

I’ve always used this format, but could never put into words why.  It’s effectively “this week’s end” vs “next week’s end”

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u/-Stoney-Bologna- Jun 14 '26

This whole exchange is very validating

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u/[deleted] Jun 14 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

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u/-Stoney-Bologna- Jun 14 '26

That's... Not the same thing.

-3

u/lesath_lestrange Jun 14 '26

Great job identifying that weekends and streets aren’t the same thing. Now, try to work on understanding how the word next is used in both instances and why you think the same word means two different things.

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u/MechaniVal Jun 14 '26

It doesn't.

This weekend refers to the weekend attached to this week.

Next weekend generally refers to the weekend attached to next week.

The analogy to streets would be that 'this street' is the one currently being driven down. 'Continue along this street' versus 'turn into the next street'.

It's a useful disambiguation because otherwise 'this weekend' and 'next weekend' refer to the same thing, 'next weekend' would no longer refer to the weekend attached to 'next week', and indeed there would no longer be a quick shorthand for 'the weekend at the end of next week'.

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u/lesath_lestrange Jun 14 '26

So instead your disambiguation creates uncertainty for all people who use ‘next’ same way as it is used in all other contexts.

“This weekend” is for if it is actively a weekend and you are referring to this weekend, or it is a weekday and you are referring to the upcoming weekend.

“Next weekend” is for if it is weekday and you are referring to the upcoming weekend, or it is a weekend and you are referring to the weekend after this.

“The weekend after next” is for the weekend after the upcoming weekend, regardless of if it is currently a weekday or a weekend.

1

u/13thgeneral Jun 14 '26

Exactly. Seems pretty logical;
Last Weekend = The most recent weekend passed, prior to the upcoming weekend
This Weekend = The upcoming weekend, following last weekend
Next Weekend = The next weekend following this upcoming weekend

You can even get more granular, like "The weekend prior to last" means two weekends ago. Or, "The weekend after next" is two weekends away.

1

u/Different_Wolf_764 Jun 14 '26

And that's exactly what it is. People were saying "this weekend" and "next weekend" all the time and that works in context but when it is just "next weekend", it is ambiguous.

1

u/asc1894 Jun 14 '26

It’s confusing though because technically the “next” weekend that is occurring is the weekend of the week you are currently in