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| Member |
I think that's wrong. We have the word 'by' to define the context. So if I say 'by 2pm' don't you think that means before 2pm, not the day before 2pm. Absent other context 'by' friday means before its not friday. Not the day before its friday. “So in war, the way is to avoid what is strong, and strike at what is weak.” | |||
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Serenity now! |
This is how I see it, too. This all came about because I was following up with a colleague about an assignment he had which was due 'by Friday'. When I didn't see it on Friday, I emailed him asking about it, to which he very strongly told me I was wrong and he had until 11:59 to get it done. This isn't business related, so EOB or a specific time doesn't factor into it. The instructions simply stated to have this assignment done by Friday. Ladies and gentlemen, take my advice - pull down your pants and slide on the ice. ʘ ͜ʖ ʘ | |||
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His Royal Hiney |
If you say you need something by 2 pm and I get it done by 2:00:59, I met your needs. Getting it done by 1:59:59 isn't going to make that much of a difference. If you wanted it before 2 PM, you should have said 2 PM. If I'm working and I committed to something by end of day, I committed to getting it done before your morning starts. My day is flexible and I'll stay as long as I need to get it done. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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Member |
No, you'd be 59 seconds late. Year V | |||
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Corgis Rock |
For those quibbling about “11:59“ how you get it in? In this case “sent it in” could be email, Fax, or snail mail. More important, this is a one trick pony. One boss I had always wanted projects on Thursday. That allowed him all Friday to chew butt. “ The work of destruction is quick, easy and exhilarating; the work of creation is slow, laborious and dull. | |||
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| If you see me running try to keep up  |
If I told someone it’s due by Friday then I must have it end of day Thursday. If I wanted it on Friday I would have stated it’s due on Friday. To me due by Friday means it’s due by the time Friday gets here, which is midnight Thursday. | |||
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Member |
To me if it is something business related like an inspection report,a bid for a job or a job proposal to me it means on my desk by the beginning of the work day. In this case Friday morning. It may not do me any good at the end of the day. I guess it all depends on what that something is. The Second Amendment to the United States Constitution. A well regulated militia being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms shall not be infringed. As ratified by the States and authenticated by Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State NRA Life Member | |||
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Member |
^^^^^ This is what I was thinking, 71. If I told someone "by Friday", I would expect them to have it completed ANY time on Thursday so that it could be discussed first thing Friday morning. And just so things wouldn't be ambiguous, I'd set a time for it to be discussed on Friday. If this were something assigned to me, I'd ask for clarification. "If you’re a leader, you lead the way. Not just on the easy ones; you take the tough ones too…” – MAJ Richard D. Winters (1918-2011), E Company, 2nd Battalion, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment, 101st Airborne "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil... Therefore, as tongues of fire lick up straw and as dry grass sinks down in the flames, so their roots will decay and their flowers blow away like dust; for they have rejected the law of the Lord Almighty and spurned the word of the Holy One of Israel." - Isaiah 5:20,24 | |||
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| Do No Harm, Do Know Harm |
Count me in with “by” meaning prior to the start of. If you say you’ll be somewhere “by 3”, but you get there at 3:45, you’re late. If I say I’ll send you a response to an offer “by Friday” it means that you’ll get it at any point between now and when Friday begins. It has a precise ending time. Midnight Friday morning is late. Knowing what one is talking about is widely admired but not strictly required here. Although sometimes distracting, there is often a certain entertainment value to this easy standard. -JALLEN "All I need is a WAR ON DRUGS reference and I got myself a police thread BINGO." -jljones | |||
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| Member |
By or before; the terms are nebulous and could mean either one, depending on who said it. Best to call and ask. I find a little communication goes a long way. | |||
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| On the wrong side of the Mobius strip  |
I have learned to explicitly indicate the date and time I expect a task to be completed. This avoids ambiguity and misunderstandings. | |||
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| His Royal Hiney |
Nope. I'm not late. If you wanted it by 2:00, you need to specify 2:00:00. You need to understand precision. "It did not really matter what we expected from life, but rather what life expected from us. We needed to stop asking about the meaning of life, and instead to think of ourselves as those who were being questioned by life – daily and hourly. Our answer must consist not in talk and meditation, but in right action and in right conduct. Life ultimately means taking the responsibility to find the right answer to its problems and to fulfill the tasks which it constantly sets for each individual." Viktor Frankl, Man's Search for Meaning, 1946. | |||
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| Little ray of sunshine  |
I think, in common usage, "by Friday" means on Friday, at what ever time is reasonable under the circumstances. Since no time is specified however, I think you could make a reasonable argument that it means tender at any time until 11:59:59 P.M. on Friday is within the letter of the request. If they want it on Thursday, they should say "before Friday." The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything. | |||
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Don't Panic |
Yep. Ambiguity is nobody's friend. If you want to start an argument over ambiguous English another fun thing is to start looking at our weak words for amounts: 'couple', 'some', 'few' 'several', 'many', 'a bunch', etc. There are some guidelines but not as many as folks may think. If you had been asked to deliver 'some' and you brought quantity one, did you deliver? How about if asked for 'many' and you brought quantity two? If someone said you could take 'a couple' of something and you took three, did you take too many? | |||
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