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The only confusing thing here is how this got to become an article. There is no magical or complex thing about "Ahorita". In the states some people may tell you

The only confusing thing here is how this got to become an article. There is no magical or complex thing about "Ahorita". In the states some people may tell you "Give me a sec" and have you wait for a couple of minutes. Yet I don't see an article saying "The confusing way Americans tell the time". Unlike the author I know what I am talking about because I am an actuall Mexican.

gareim 9y ago
In America, if you asked when something is being restocked, no one is going to say "in a second" or even "in a bit" when they really mean in 5 hours.
- MichaelBurge 9y ago
  "This project will be done in 2 weeks"
- dbrgn 9y ago
  In America, people say "just a sec" even though you will wait for more than one second. The confusing way Americans count seconds.
  - loblollyboy 9y ago
    The confusing way I used to piss off all my roommates
  - wingerlang 9y ago
    It would never mean 5 hours though. And if the person knew it was 5 hours or even just X hours, they would likely say it with greater precision than 'just a sec'.
  - derekp7 9y ago
    "Just a sec" implies an indefinite amount of time on the order of that which can be reasonably measured in seconds.
    - mywittyname 9y ago
      And almost always ties into something the person is already doing. Like if you asked someone to get you a Coke and they were pouring some chips, they'd say, "just a sec" to mean, "sure, after I'm done with this."
- hirsin 9y ago
  Partner: Hey, when is that new api going to be ready? Me: Ah, it's going to be a bit. No idea what time period I meant there? That's fine, I probably didn't either. But somewhere between two days and two weeks depending on when the due date was.
  - cakedoggie 9y ago
    And that is a stupid answer.
unkown-unknowns 9y ago
I enjoyed the article and I think that someone who's going to travel to Mexico and don't know anything about the country might find this article useful.
hueving 9y ago
>Unlike the author I know what I am talking about because I am an actuall Mexican. That means you don't know what you're talking about. If you are immersed in it you definitely won't be confused about it at all. This article is written for people who are not Mexican observing from the outside. It's like someone from the US claiming the imperial measurement system isn't confusing. The more immersed you are, the less relevant your view is to outsiders.
- Vanclief 9y ago
  That only applies if I have spent my entire life in Mexico, which I haven't. I have traveled the world quite a lot, and I have found many funny things, but this is not one of them.
- coldtea 9y ago
  >If you are immersed in it you definitely won't be confused about it at all. That stands for everything, and it would still prove that it's not the thing that it's confusing, but it depends on the familiarity (or lack thereof) with it.
robotresearcher 9y ago
In English we have a very context-sensitive timing word: 'soon'. Soon can mean 5 seconds from now or much more, depending on context. 'I'm leaving for the airport soon.' This probably means within a few minutes or hours. 'Soon my kids will be all grown up and leaving for college.' This means anything up to a decade or more. Nobody would expect my son to leave today, even though the wording is the same as my airport declaration. This rarely causes any trouble, despite the large difference in meaning.
- Aloha 9y ago
  This is truly the direct parallel. "I'll be leaving soon" probably means within a half an hour. "It'll be done real soon now" - means possibly never, but probably eventually.
- cakedoggie 9y ago
  And soon is not given in an answer to how long something will take, unless you wanted to annoy someone. If I asked when will the ice cream get here, and they answered soon, I would ask them to clarify, or just leave, knowing they had no idea themselves.
- FooHentai 9y ago
  Even worse if you're from Yorkshire. "When will we get there?" "Directly" "How far is it?" "Down the road"
- Vanclief 9y ago
  I think you nailed it. Ahorita == Soon
yellowapple 9y ago
American culture is influenced by Mexican culture, though (even if we Americans don't seem to want to admit it), so it's not surprising that Americans also have ambiguous notions of time. Meanwhile, I'd wager that other cultures (perhaps from Europe or Asia) tend toward being more literal about how they indicate time. This article would therefore be useful to them.
sidlls 9y ago
There are very few Americans who would reply "in a sec," or "soon," if they meant "possibly some time today, or not." There are different words and phrases for each length of indeterminate time. That's apparently not the case with the word in the article, and that's why it's confusing without broader context.
arximboldi 9y ago
I agree. Also they make it seem like this particular usage of the word "ahorita" is so unique, but reading the article I got the feeling that, even though the "future ahora" may be more common in some regions than others, this is simply the meaning of the word in Spanish in general. I am from Spain where you wold think we have a more "european" time management sense. Yet it is common to say: "ahora nos vemos" or "hasta ahora" (see you now/soon) as you are leaving the room, when you know you are gonna meet the others later in the day. It if you ask someone when are they going to do this thing you asked them to do and and they reply: "ahora"... it actually means "when I finish what I am doing now". It is true that in a business setting and some context you might need to be more specific, but that still does not change the meaning of ahora. It is also a ok reply "ahora, cuando acabe con esto", which means--"soon, as I am done with this", or even more specific: "when is the concert going to start? Ahora en 15 minutos." "Ahora" simply does not mean "now" as in the current instant, but in the "present", this is, the time of the events that are connected to the current activities, the things that you can "wait for", the things that will happen before they are out of your head... it is like "soon" or "soon today", but with a hint of will, of promise, of certainty or fate.

gareim 9y ago

In America, if you asked when something is being restocked, no one is going to say "in a second" or even "in a bit" when they really mean in 5 hours.

MichaelBurge 9y ago
"This project will be done in 2 weeks"
dbrgn 9y ago
In America, people say "just a sec" even though you will wait for more than one second. The confusing way Americans count seconds.
- loblollyboy 9y ago
  The confusing way I used to piss off all my roommates
- wingerlang 9y ago
  It would never mean 5 hours though. And if the person knew it was 5 hours or even just X hours, they would likely say it with greater precision than 'just a sec'.
- derekp7 9y ago
  "Just a sec" implies an indefinite amount of time on the order of that which can be reasonably measured in seconds.
  - mywittyname 9y ago
    And almost always ties into something the person is already doing. Like if you asked someone to get you a Coke and they were pouring some chips, they'd say, "just a sec" to mean, "sure, after I'm done with this."
hirsin 9y ago
Partner: Hey, when is that new api going to be ready? Me: Ah, it's going to be a bit. No idea what time period I meant there? That's fine, I probably didn't either. But somewhere between two days and two weeks depending on when the due date was.
- cakedoggie 9y ago
  And that is a stupid answer.

unkown-unknowns 9y ago

I enjoyed the article and I think that someone who's going to travel to Mexico and don't know anything about the country might find this article useful.

hueving 9y ago

>Unlike the author I know what I am talking about because I am an actuall Mexican. That means you don't know what you're talking about. If you are immersed in it you definitely won't be confused about it at all. This article is written for people who are not Mexican observing from the outside. It's like someone from the US claiming the imperial measurement system isn't confusing. The more immersed you are, the less relevant your view is to outsiders.

Vanclief 9y ago
That only applies if I have spent my entire life in Mexico, which I haven't. I have traveled the world quite a lot, and I have found many funny things, but this is not one of them.
coldtea 9y ago
>If you are immersed in it you definitely won't be confused about it at all. That stands for everything, and it would still prove that it's not the thing that it's confusing, but it depends on the familiarity (or lack thereof) with it.

robotresearcher 9y ago

In English we have a very context-sensitive timing word: 'soon'. Soon can mean 5 seconds from now or much more, depending on context. 'I'm leaving for the airport soon.' This probably means within a few minutes or hours. 'Soon my kids will be all grown up and leaving for college.' This means anything up to a decade or more. Nobody would expect my son to leave today, even though the wording is the same as my airport declaration. This rarely causes any trouble, despite the large difference in meaning.

Aloha 9y ago
This is truly the direct parallel. "I'll be leaving soon" probably means within a half an hour. "It'll be done real soon now" - means possibly never, but probably eventually.
cakedoggie 9y ago
And soon is not given in an answer to how long something will take, unless you wanted to annoy someone. If I asked when will the ice cream get here, and they answered soon, I would ask them to clarify, or just leave, knowing they had no idea themselves.
FooHentai 9y ago
Even worse if you're from Yorkshire. "When will we get there?" "Directly" "How far is it?" "Down the road"
Vanclief 9y ago
I think you nailed it. Ahorita == Soon

yellowapple 9y ago

American culture is influenced by Mexican culture, though (even if we Americans don't seem to want to admit it), so it's not surprising that Americans also have ambiguous notions of time. Meanwhile, I'd wager that other cultures (perhaps from Europe or Asia) tend toward being more literal about how they indicate time. This article would therefore be useful to them.

sidlls 9y ago

There are very few Americans who would reply "in a sec," or "soon," if they meant "possibly some time today, or not." There are different words and phrases for each length of indeterminate time. That's apparently not the case with the word in the article, and that's why it's confusing without broader context.

arximboldi 9y ago

I agree. Also they make it seem like this particular usage of the word "ahorita" is so unique, but reading the article I got the feeling that, even though the "future ahora" may be more common in some regions than others, this is simply the meaning of the word in Spanish in general. I am from Spain where you wold think we have a more "european" time management sense. Yet it is common to say: "ahora nos vemos" or "hasta ahora" (see you now/soon) as you are leaving the room, when you know you are gonna meet the others later in the day. It if you ask someone when are they going to do this thing you asked them to do and and they reply: "ahora"... it actually means "when I finish what I am doing now". It is true that in a business setting and some context you might need to be more specific, but that still does not change the meaning of ahora. It is also a ok reply "ahora, cuando acabe con esto", which means--"soon, as I am done with this", or even more specific: "when is the concert going to start? Ahora en 15 minutos." "Ahora" simply does not mean "now" as in the current instant, but in the "present", this is, the time of the events that are connected to the current activities, the things that you can "wait for", the things that will happen before they are out of your head... it is like "soon" or "soon today", but with a hint of will, of promise, of certainty or fate.