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I like to think that we Dutch have this mostly figured out. We say either "upcoming Friday" or "next week Friday". This is perfectly unambiguous except for Sund

I like to think that we Dutch have this mostly figured out. We say either "upcoming Friday" or "next week Friday". This is perfectly unambiguous except for Sunday and Monday because people just can't agree on what day a week starts :-) I've struggled for years in English with "this/next Friday" and ended up just translating the Dutch versions word for word. It's not proper English, but everyone I tried it on understands what I mean when I say "next week Friday" or "Friday next week".

yoz-y 5y ago
> This is perfectly unambiguous except for Sunday and Monday because people just can't agree on what day a week starts :-) I always thought that the “week starts on Sunday” was only an American thing. TIL
- timvdalen 5y ago
  As another Dutch person, I've never seen this disagreement here either. I also associate that ambiguity solely with Americans.
  - ghusbands 5y ago
    I've also suffered similar ambiguity in the UK.
- Joker_vD 5y ago
  The word for Tuesday is "Tyr's day" in Germanic languages, "Mars' day" in Romance languages, "second day" in Balto-Slavic languages, and "third day" in Greek, so it's not even the Catholic/Orthodox division, it's just... weird.
- edanm 5y ago
  Probably not what you have in mind, but in Israel, the week does start on Sunday. (Sunday is also literally translated to "First Day" in Hebrew). I believe that this is also the case in other countries. I think the weekend being Saturday-Sunday is specifically a Christian thing, with Saturday being a day of rest an originally Jewish thing, and that other countries have different weekends.
another-dave 5y ago
"Friday next week" is perfect English by the way. I (Hiberno-English speaker) would naturally say "Friday week" for the same thing, but have found it doesn't travel well :)
petercooper 5y ago
Does the Dutch approach work if it's, say, Saturday and you are talking about "next week Tuesday"? Is that the Tuesday in 10 days' time or the one in 3?
- skrebbel 5y ago
  I'm not sure! Good one! I'd say 10 days but that makes no sense by my own explanation.

yoz-y 5y ago

> This is perfectly unambiguous except for Sunday and Monday because people just can't agree on what day a week starts :-) I always thought that the “week starts on Sunday” was only an American thing. TIL

timvdalen 5y ago
As another Dutch person, I've never seen this disagreement here either. I also associate that ambiguity solely with Americans.
- ghusbands 5y ago
  I've also suffered similar ambiguity in the UK.
Joker_vD 5y ago
The word for Tuesday is "Tyr's day" in Germanic languages, "Mars' day" in Romance languages, "second day" in Balto-Slavic languages, and "third day" in Greek, so it's not even the Catholic/Orthodox division, it's just... weird.
edanm 5y ago
Probably not what you have in mind, but in Israel, the week does start on Sunday. (Sunday is also literally translated to "First Day" in Hebrew). I believe that this is also the case in other countries. I think the weekend being Saturday-Sunday is specifically a Christian thing, with Saturday being a day of rest an originally Jewish thing, and that other countries have different weekends.

another-dave 5y ago

"Friday next week" is perfect English by the way. I (Hiberno-English speaker) would naturally say "Friday week" for the same thing, but have found it doesn't travel well :)

petercooper 5y ago

Does the Dutch approach work if it's, say, Saturday and you are talking about "next week Tuesday"? Is that the Tuesday in 10 days' time or the one in 3?

skrebbel 5y ago
I'm not sure! Good one! I'd say 10 days but that makes no sense by my own explanation.