On Days of the Week and Demonstratives

[lhynard]

I think that I have noticed that different people treat the demonstrative "this" differently in regards to the days of a given week - or else I am the only oddball out there. So to test this idea...,

Comments

[essius]

Seems to me there's a difference between "last Sunday" and "this past Sunday" and, similarly, "this Saturday" and "this coming Saturday." Could be wrong, I suppose.

[lhynard]

I sometimes use those terms to clarify things as well. How do you define them?

[essius]

This = of this week. Last = of last week. Next = of next week. This past = past day of the current week. This coming = of next week.

[lhynard]

I am quite similar, the only difference being how I define the last:

this = of this week
last = of last week
next = of next week

this past = past day of the current week
this coming = future day of the current week

Where were you raised?

[earthminor]

For me, if it's the first before today, it was last. If it's first after today, it's next. If you say 'this', it's the first one coming up.

In Australia we say "Saturday week", to mean the Saturday after the next one (i.e. plus a week to Saturday). Does that happen in the US?

[lhynard]

No, we say, "the Saturday after next."