Demain and lendemain!

Not that different from mine @stella :rofl:

Yes it really really annoys me. Luckily I don’t know anyone in real life who says it so I can vituperate away to my heart’s content. No life isn’t too short and yes it’s a first world problem, that where I live.

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no idea how I’ve managed to post twice… insanity is obviously setting in… :roll_eyes: :rofl:

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Unfortunately I do - my brother used the term when teling me that our mother had just died.

But I’ll forgive him not only 'cos he’s my brother, but these days his Spanish is better than his English

I’m so sorry, and that of course is a perfect illustration of why I can’t in fact VATMHC because it is bound to be hurtful to someone. So, many apologies.

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Thanks, but nothing to apologise for!

Euphemisms generally only work if they’re witty or original

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To me ‘passed’ is when someone goes down the lane without calling in. But I do love ‘vituperate’, thank you @vero, and I am going to make it my word of the week because if my tv had ears they would be bleeding because of all the vituperating I do at it every day.

Medical terms such as ‘pop’ and ‘tummy’ get me going too. ‘Stopped by’ instead of ‘called in’ is another of my pet hates.

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Pre-1997 the HK Jockey Club naming of racehorses by members was taken quite seriously. No repeats. No obscenities. However, one scallywag managed to get past the censors with ‘Passing Wind’. Sounds quite lovely in Chinese.
:racehorse: :racehorse: :racehorse::dash:

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A couple of years ago I had accompanied my mother to the hospital. A nurse mentioned they needed a urine sample, so I passed the message on by telling her they wanted her to wee in the pot. Having been a doctor’s secretary and familiar with medical terminology, she was completely livid, and it took some time to calm her enough not to officially complain and just produce the sample.

Having had small children, the term wee has stuck, and it’s just quicker than some, politer than other ways of asking for that action. :stuck_out_tongue:

Slight digression, but hopefully a sufficiently interesting one.

About thirty years ago, some friends of mine who run an international non-gallery based art organisation called Locus+ locusplus.com helped Mark Wallinger, Mark Wallinger – Hauser & Wirth (hauserwirth.com) who was then an emergent artist, to buy a racehorse, because his London dealer, the supposed promoter of the avant garde, Anthony Reynolds Gallery wouldn’t put up the money. Wallinger registered his racing colours - which were the same as those in the Suffragette’s flag - with the Jockey Club,

Locus paid for a limited edition of fifty small metal statuettes of horses and jockeys of the kind advertised in racing magazines. These were painted in Wallinger’s new racing colours and advertised on the international art market. The edition sold out (no, I didn’t buy one, but now wish I had as it would have been a far better investment than our unit trust) . The money raised was then used to buy a real race horse, which was called ‘A Real Work of Art’. Unfortunately/ or fortunately if you prefer, the horse fell in its first race and had to be retired from racing.

A Real Work of Art | Locus+ (locusplus.org.uk)

It was then bought by a wealthy German art collector.

End of anecdote.

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Lovely story! I hope the poor horse had a long and happy retirement. Hopefully, at stud.

Thanks to this thread, I’ve got a better handle on lendemain. It reminds me of a lovely English word I first came across a couple of years ago – perendinate, to pvdut off until the day after tomorrow. It takes laid-back to a new level and appeals to folk like me who feel procrastination has an undue air of urgency about it.vd

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Bonjour @David_Spardo You are not alone, I would be like wait; okay. :sweat_smile: I will just say “(Day) of this week” when referring to the current week rather than “Next Friday or the Following Friday; because I don’t know how; but I have encountered many people where that translates as next week.

I’m regularly confused when someone says vendredi prochain.
I take it to mean next Friday and have learnt to check that it’s not Friday of this week.
My father used to make the distinction between next Friday and Friday next. I can’t remember his reasoning.

I think that the accepted expression in my father’s day was ‘passed away’. I still wrongly say ‘il est mort’ when I should say ‘il est décédé’. I’ve not figured out the nuance.
More irreverently I get ‘pissed off’ when my kids used the Americanism ‘pissed’ (and trash etc)
How come my kids learned American English when I come from Lancashire and my husband is Irish!

Whether it be days or times… I always double check

Friday!
Ah, Friday now or Friday next week?

Seize heure trente-cinq!
Ah, cinq heure moins vingt-cinq… ou quatre heure trente-cinq ?
I’d much rather make the effort to ensure we’re all singing from the same hymn sheet… :+1:

Having worked for many holiday home owners who were inevitably imprecise about their arrivals & departures I adopted the habit of always stating the date & day of the week in any correspondence with them.

A classic thing is “we’re coming on the Friday ferry”. From where to where? Overnight? etc…

An actual date (& time, ideally) prevents any misunderstandings about the term “next” anything.

The biggest irritant for me is always “we’ll be there for the Easter holidays” which, depending on the location &/or type of school that their children attend, could make a difference of 2 weeks either way.

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Same thing though Stella! :slightly_smiling_face: Just 16 heures 35 is pm and the other two would be am, strictly.

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I fully understand that @vero , having for many many years used the 24 hour system, but I am often confused in France when a French person says deux heure, meaning 14 heure. My hair cutting lady always does that and then changes to 14 when she sees my expression. Perhaps she thinks she is making an effort knowing I am English. :thinking:

It depends on context doesn’t it. Deux heures is two o’clock and whether am or pm is ambiguous so context will tell you. I doubt your hairdresser gives appointments for the middle of the night. Growing up my family used the 24 hour clock really only for disambiguation or eg making appointments. Generally speaking it is fairly obvious.

Le goûter est à quatre heures but I have a rdv chez le notaire à seize heures, that sort of thing.

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