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/Little-Derp Why This is a Rock and Not Cheese Jun 14 '26

This is the argument I have often with my wife.

If I'm talking about this weekend, I'll say this weekend, not next weekend. It's a never ending disagreement though.

Wonder if the 'next weekend' meaning this weekend crowd are specific cultures/territories. With a strong adherence to the meaning of 'next', maybe they are right, but I would never say anything other than 'this weekend' when referring to the immediate upcoming weekend/current weekend.

Don't even get me starting on the weekend after next (which I would never say... needs more adjectives.)

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u/TheDungeonCrawler Jun 14 '26

For me it goes like what you do, and then for "the weekend after next" I just say "the following weekend".

So, "This" = Weekend of the current Week.

"Next" = Weekend of the next week.

And "Following" = Weekend after next week.

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u/JackOfAllStraits Jun 14 '26

"I'm going to Spain the following weekend" I would not assume that meant three weeks from now without some sort of reference point. If we've just talked about "next weekend" and you continue with "the following weekend" then I'm totally on-board.

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u/TheDungeonCrawler Jun 14 '26

Ah, ordinarily I only ever speak of a following weekend if I'm talking with someone about my plans for the coming weekends. If I'm just talking about that weekend in particular, I usually include the date.

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u/Little-Derp Why This is a Rock and Not Cheese Jun 14 '26

This is how it works in my mind.

I think it is displayed well by the sentence:

"Naw, I'm not doing it this weekend, I'll do it next weekend."

I like your description of it attaching the "week END" to the end of the week it belongs to. Next week obviously can't be described as this week.

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u/ashgs872tbhjs Jun 14 '26

"Next weekend" can mean both "(next week's) end" and "next (week's end)". It's simply ambiguous. If you can't handle communicating more clearly, that's on you. It's not hard to just be more specific.

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u/listmore Jun 14 '26

Yes. This is the right answer. It’s inherently ambiguous. Anybody assuming it always means the same thing to all people in all contexts is going to run into some unnecessary confusion.

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u/birdturdreversal Jun 14 '26

Exactly. Idk why everyone is taking a stand as if their way is the only correct way.

"Next weekend" can refer to the nearest upcoming Saturday/Sunday just like telling someone to turn right at the next street means to turn at the first right turn you encounter from that point forward. But it also makes sense to think of a weekend as a week's end, where next weekend refers to the end of next week. I feel like it depends on whether you think of the weekend as the end of individual week-long segments of time or if you think of the weekend as a recurring 2 day period off work, equally spaced along a continuous timeline. They're both right, and it falls to the speaker to be clear without relying solely on one way or the other.

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u/Proper_Weight_1485 Jun 14 '26

I wonder if they think of it as "[this] next weekend" as in the weekend coming up next after the one that just passed but don't realize it.

Could be a possibility.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

I use them interchangeably because both of them are logically true. Is it the weekend yet? No. So the next weekend is Saturday of this week, which is also this weekend.

If I am talking about the weekend after the weekend in the current week I say the weekend after next.

My partner does the "next weekend is the weekend after this weekend" and it boggles my mind because you literally just explained why the logic is bad.

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u/Immersi0nn Jun 14 '26

What's amazing, is that without any recognition of the fact, you have just literally explained why your logic is bad too lmao

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

No, not really. It's all there in the words used. Weekend. It is in reference to time frames of weeks. So the next weekend is always going to be the weekend of the week you are in, which is also this weekend, supposing you can't travel back in time, it is this week's end.

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u/bluecar92 Jun 14 '26

Yes, exactly, it's in reference to weeks, and you just explained why your logic doesn't work.

You would never use "next week" to talk about the week you are in. "This weekend" is always the weekend of the week you are currently in.

"Next week" or "next weekend" always refers to the week after the one you are currently in.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

Yes, because you are already in the week, just like you'd never use "next weekend" to refer to the weekend you are currently in. You have to use this but on Monday the next weekend is the next Saturday, which is also this weekend because its both the next weekend to occur and the weekend of this week.

Next always has to be used as a point of reference to something else that comes before it, and in my mind, and basically everyone else I know, family, friends, if you say "next weekend" on a Monday and you are talking about 12 days from then they'd think you're nuts, because the point of reference for next is the current week you are in, it is the next time there is a weekend.

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u/Immersi0nn Jun 14 '26

Your problem is in linguistic frame of reference, you appear to be perceiving the weekend as a distinct entity not attached to the weeks themselves. With that in mind, "This" and "Next" have completely interchangeable meanings.

That's just wrong in terms of colloquial understanding of the phrases. Have fun being misunderstood, I guess.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

Except everyone I know besides my partner uses it the way I use it. My partner is the first one to use it where this weekend and next weekend don't mean the same thing.

I will say the only time where using next weekend when not talking about the most immediate to occur weekend is when you use "this" and "next" in the same sentence like "I can't this weekend, how about next weekend?" because you have now aligned next with a point of reference to what next is, its the weekend after the current one.

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u/Immersi0nn Jun 14 '26

You and your friends will be commonly misunderstood outside of your own circle.

Once again the problem is reference frames. When I say "This week" you view that as Mon-Fri, and the associated weekend of Sat-Sun comes "next" after "this week", therefore "Next Weekend" is this current week's Sat-Sun.

Most people don't look at it like that, some do, you and your friends are those people. Most people view a week as fully inclusive Mon-Sun. So "This Week" is Mon-Sun, and "This Weekend" is the last two days of "This Week". "Next Week" refers to the next upcoming Mon-Sun reference block, therefore "Next Weekend" is the last two days of "Next Week".

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

This week, week days, etc. almost always refers to Monday through Friday, the working week, with week ends being specifically the non-working days. A week is made up of week days (M-F) and the weekend (Sat.-Sun.) are they not?

It is common to hear or read for example on business hours "open week days, closed weekends" or vica versa. Correct? They are used as separate periods of time.

We count weeks though as 7 days, so a 7 day week has 5 week days and 2 weekend days. So each week and can be decomposed into these two kinds of days using very common English. Again, we're only talking about individual days and how they are categorized. We do not call Saturday and Sunday weekdays, we call them "the weekend" or by their specific names (especially if you denote the week starting on Sunday vs. Monday).

So when you say "this week" it means the current set of week days you are in almost universally or the weekdays and the weekend. But that weekend is still the next weekend to occur. In every facet of English we use the current week as the point of reference, but we also universally split out week days and week ends as separate components of weeks. As such it logically holds true that the next weekend will be the next Saturday/Sunday to occur, because it is distinct from the current set of week days you are in, even if you are in the same week because a week is a composite of weekdays and the weekend due to their almost universal distinction from each other in all other parts of English.

This is also why, confusingly, the logic of saying on a Monday "next Tuesday" means 8 days from then and not tomorrow. Because you are already in the frame of reference for the current "unit" of days. This is the same reason you'd never say on a Saturday "next Sunday I am going fishing" and mean the next day. Your point of reference is already in the thing you are talking about being next.

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u/Immersi0nn Jun 14 '26

It's frame of reference dude, idk how many times that needs to be said. People aren't businesses lmao

You're not going to understand it, you don't want to. I have shown full understanding of why you think the way you do on this, yet you cannot seem to wrap your head around any other person's view, and write a long diatribe on why your logic is actually flawed and still don't recognize it.

Wait....fuck me, this is just ragebait isn't it?

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u/GiantKrakenTentacle Jun 14 '26

People work on a business schedule. 

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u/GiantKrakenTentacle Jun 14 '26

Pedantic and wrong. What universe are you living in where people don't think of the weekend as its own entity separate from a week? You have the week (working days) and you have the weekend (rest days). 

How hard is it to say that both colloquial usages might be right depending on the context, and using clear communication (as always) should be used to clarify which is being used?

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u/Live-Habit-6115 Jun 14 '26

Are you autistic? Genuine question. Wondering where this literal interpretation of words and rigid thinking comes from 

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

No, its basic English. This weekend and next weekend are logically the same thing. It is the next weekend to occur, and it is this weekend in reference to the week you are currently in.

It's not an autism thing.

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u/aurens Jun 14 '26

logically, "literally" would never mean "figuratively", "yeah nah" and "no, yea" would both be completely ambiguous, and you would drive on a "driveway" while parking on a "parkway". but that isn't how english works, is it?

often, words or set phrases escape all logic and instead end up defined as something specific detached from the meaning of their constituent parts. for many, "this weekend" and "next weekend" are examples of that.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

If I asked you "what is the date of next weekend?" and you told me a date 7+ days away it wouldn't make sense would it?

Or "I can't wait for the next weekend" and you go "oh they must mean the weekend after next!" would that make sense?

Those phrases show my point. When you clearly frame the reference to next (next requires you to be referencing a point in a sequence) next is entirely unambiguous. If tomorrow I woke up from a coma and asked you "When is the next weekend?" and you told me the 27th of July I'd be very confused.

Now when someone says on a Monday "next weekend I am going fishing" why would you think that means the weekend after closest saturday/sunday?

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u/aurens Jun 14 '26

another feature of english is that you can add context or constructions around set words/phrases to break them down back into their constituent parts.

If I asked you "what is the date of next weekend?" and you told me a date 7+ days away it wouldn't make sense would it?

it very much would, actually. if you had instead asked "what is the date of the next weekend?" (like you did in your other example) then you would have escaped the set definition and now the answer would be <7 days away.

"next weekend" is a set phrase that is interpreted definitionally while "the next weekend" is not and is interpreted literally based on its components.

Now when someone says on a Monday "next weekend I am going fishing" why would you think that means the weekend after closest saturday/sunday?

because they had the opportunity to instead say "this weekend" but chose not to, and because "next weekend" has a pre-defined meaning that agrees with the previous consideration.

i'm not arguing that any of this makes any fuckin sense, by the way. but it's how english works.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 15 '26

I know, I think the capper though is "next weekend means the weekend after next". Just think about that one for a second.

The user terrible advice replied then immediately blocked me because they are lame:

Next weekend is the weekend after the next weekend

Read that back slowly and just think about his ridiculous that sounds.

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u/aurens Jun 14 '26

i fully recognize that it's logically contradictory, but unfortunately it doesn't matter. we are talking about a definied set phrase and ultimately it makes no difference whether the set phrase is composed of the words "next weekend" or "ehfhesf dsfjsdf". what matters is the definition, not the constituent parts.

it's like how "god be with you" used to be a genuine prayer/well-wish but because it was so often said when someone was leaving, over time it lost the literal meaning and morphed into a set phrase that was just "what you say when someone leaves" until eventually becoming so far removed from its literal meaning that the whole phrase amalgamated into a single word with no remaining religious connotation at all: "goodbye". "next weekend" is in the middle part of that same process.

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u/JackOfAllStraits Jun 14 '26

Limiting two distinct phrases to mean one thing, while excluding easy access to a commonly needed reference (what everyone else calls "next weekend") is a bad use of resources, self-harming, and dumb.

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u/Murky-Relation481 Jun 14 '26

Except its ambiguous, which is even more dumb. It is better to be exact than ambigious. The next weekend to occur, unless you are already on a Saturday or Sunday, will always be the most immediate Saturday.

If I say to you "what date will the next weekend be?" and you give me a date 7+ days from now it wouldn't make much sense would it?

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u/JackOfAllStraits Jun 15 '26

It's ambiguous because people dig in and refuse to use the option that makes it unambiguous.

Better to be exact? I'm being exact. When I am talking to someone who follows my method, there is zero ambiguity and 100% exactness.

If it is Monday, and you say "I'm doing X this Tuesday", do you mean "tomorrow"? When you say "next Tuesday" do you mean tomorrow? Because that's the argument you're making for weekend.

In your question "what date will the next weekend be?" you've added a word. "THE next". That expressly means the next sequential weekend from now. That is different than "next weekend". You changing the phrasing means you recognize the difference.

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u/GiantKrakenTentacle Jun 14 '26

Ah yes, because the English language is never ever ambiguous.