Having just watched a Graham Norton New Year's Eve show that was clearly filmed a couple of weeks before that date, which itself is a couple of weeks before now, I have lost all connection with conventional time. TGIF!
That's because this Saturday (the 19th) is the next Saturday. The following Saturday is just that...the following Saturday, as it is the Saturday after next Saturday, which is why it is sometimes referenced as 'the Saturday after'.
"Next Saturday" is obviously the 26th because the 19th is this Saturday.
But some people don't even care about the rules, so the terminology is useless. You have to elaborate and say, "Not this upcoming Saturday, but the one after," and if possible (like if you have a calendar in front of you) specify the date.
It depends somewhat on what day today is and whether there have been any other references to days and what tense the references are in.
For example, if I say "I'm not going there this Saturday, but I will go next Saturday" then "this Saturday" is the 19th and "next Saturday" is the 26th.
But if I said "I already went there this Saturday, so I'm not going next Saturday" then "this Saturday" is the 12th, and "next Saturday" is the 19th. Since in a past tense reference, "this Saturday" means "this past Saturday", it would feel weird to repeat it in close proximity and have it also mean "this coming Saturday".
If someone told me, without reference to any other days, "I'm going there next Saturday" I would probably assume it was the 26th, but I wouldn't be sure, and if it was important to me, I would ask for clarification.
The meanings of "this" and "next" don't really have meanings that can be completely divorced from context.
But to be unambiguous, the 12th is "this past Saturday", the 5th is "the Saturday before last", the 19th is "this coming Saturday" and the 26th is "the Saturday after next".
Round these parts we are simple folk and just say, 'Saturday' or 'on Saturday' to refer to the 19th, and for the one after that we say, 'a week on Saturday' or 'Saturday after next.'
Based on 'Saturday after next' meaning the 26th, it follows that 'next Saturday' ought to mean the 19th, so that's how I voted, but I would tend not to use the phrase as it is confusing and ambiguous unless used in context as explained by erimir.
We do also say, 'this coming Saturday' to refer more explicitly to the 19th, but when you're that worried about being misunderstood it's safer to break out the big guns and start using dates.
Another thing that just occurred to me is that if it's Thursday or Friday when you say it, you would be more likely to say, 'the day after tomorrow' or 'tomorrow' respectively.
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Last edited by ceptimus; 01-15-2019 at 11:57 PM.
Reason: I keep thinking of extra verbiage to add.
I'd also note that "I'm going there next Saturday" without additional context varies a bit based on day of the week:
Day spoken:
Jan 12 (Sat): "I'm going there next Saturday" means Jan 19
Jan 13 (Sun): Jan 19
Jan 14 (Mon): possibly Jan 19, probably Jan 26
Jan 15 (Tue): Jan 26, but I suppose it could be Jan 19?
Jan 16-18 (Wed-Fri): Jan 26 unless you're some kind of crazy person
I can't precisely quantify these, but you could figure it out with good data.
Well, I was thinking more based on data like they say they're doing XYZ "next Saturday" and you can connect that to a specific date (for example, a holiday or a concert or other public event).
You could also see how it compares for other days of the week. It might be that weekdays are treated differently from Sat/Sun, for example.