<p>This discussion is interesting. To me, next Wednesday is the next Wednesday on the calendar, not the Wednesday after that. On a Monday I’d be more likely to simply say Wednesday instead of next Wednesday, but to me they mean the same thing. I’ve never heard of next Wednesday meaning the Wednesday that’s over a week away. That would be, in my dialect, “a week from Wednesday.”</p>
<p>I’ll add it to my mental list of odd (to me) dialect differences. Thanks for the heads up!</p>
<p>Teacher: There will be a test next Wednesday.</p>
<p>Student: Do you mean this Wednesday in two days or next week Wednesday?</p>
<p>Teacher: In my classroom we speak standard English. Perhaps you speak Martian. If you don’t know what next Wednesday means, well google is your friend.</p>
<p>I googled.
Perhaps instructors first language is not English.
For those in US & UK, they would use * This* Wednesday, to mean the one this week & * next* Wednesday to mean the one next week.</p>
<p>My point is that teachers will often give a sarcastic reply to a valid question, rather than admit any ambiguity or error.</p>
<p>Dialect differences? Where in the US is it NOT the case that - when spoken on a Monday - “this Wednesday” is 2 days from now and “next Wednesday” is 9 days from now? The teacher misspoke. </p>
<p>There’s nothing ambiguous about “next Wednesday” when spoken on a Monday. It means 9 days from now. I’m surprised so many posters think the students should have asked for clarification. To me that would be as silly as asking if Saturday’s 2 o’clock softball game was 2 a.m or 2 p.m.</p>
<p>If the teacher does not dispute the story as told, I expect a discussion with a superior would bring quick relief.</p>
<p>If on Tuesday, the teacher had said, “test next Wednesday,” I doubt anyone would have thought that the test was tomorrow. That is the point to make to the Dept Head.</p>
<p>To all those marvelling that the teacher mentioned nothing on Tuesday, I might point out that the teacher may not have that class on Tuesday. In my high school we had a block schedule such that no class ever occured two days in a row, and I’m sure many schools have systems where classes, even central academic ones, don’t necessarily meet every day of the week. </p>
<p>On the other hand, I would definitely be peeved by this.</p>
<p>Interesting…recently I was driving on the freeway, unfamiliar with the area. The sign on the side of the road read “A Street, next exit” - there was an exit not even 50 feet away, but I made an assumption that the sign meant, AFTER this coming exit (because if I were speaking to someone, I would say “THIS exit”) - needless to say, I drove past my exit - </p>
<p>Yes, this is confusing, even to me, an adult with a ton of life experience. </p>
<p>The lesson I learned is that on the freeway, the sign means “the very next exit you see” - if I’m speaking to someone, I will have to clarify, “do you mean Wednesday the 1st?”</p>
<p>I feel bad for the OPs kid. </p>
<p>I guess it’s context…when I see a sign that says “next exit,” I do think it is the first exit after the sign.</p>
<p>If I’m in aisle #1 in a store, and a clerk tells me that flour in in the next aisle, I don’t skip an aisle…I go to aisle #2.</p>
<p>If I say that someone lives “next door” to me, then I don’t mean skip a house. I mean a house that is literally adjacent to my house. </p>
<p>However, in the context of days of the week, we often think “next” as having to do with a day that is next week. But, I can see maybe an exception if it is Monday, and someone says “next Friday,” there would be confusion as to which Friday.</p>
<p>Again, if the teacher was teaching on Tuesday, and she said, “test next Wednesday,” who would think that she meant the very next day? Likely no one. So, it’s logical that it was confusing when she said that on Monday about “next Wednesday.” </p>
<p>Anyway…If I were a teacher and I had students crying over the confusion, I can’t imagine not delaying the test. Does this person have a heart of ice? </p>
<p>I think I would find a way to play a trick on that teacher to make her fall for a similar confusing statement. </p>
<p>The teacher already knew there was a problem by the time DS’s class came around because this was not the first class that took the test on Weds. Which is why the teacher explained what was meant by next Wednesday at the beginning of the class. I’m unclear at this point if any of the classes got the message that the test was this Weds. Just that at least 1 other class besides DS’s were also told “next Wednesday”. </p>
<p>I think the kids are over it now. Still it will be interesting as to what the average grades are compared to the other tests they have this semester. </p>
<p>That’s just reckless. Sometimes a teacher just has to suck it up, do the right thing, and make any adjustments to the schedule that have to be made as a result. Someone mentioned the messages we send. Well, how many times do our kids need to hear the message that says, “Teachers can’t be trusted. They don’t have your back.” ?</p>
<p><<<
Which is why the teacher explained what was meant by next Wednesday at the beginning of the class. </p>
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<p>Oh, so she “explained what was meant” when kids arrived for class on Wednesday and were handed a test. That makes everything ok.</p>
<p>She’s an idiot…and should be told so. </p>
<p>It’s my sad observation that certain traits seem to go together, and the propensity to make this kind of mistake tends to go together with an inability to admit having made a mistake.</p>
<p>“She’s an idiot…and should be told so.”</p>
<p>My word for the teacher ended in bag.</p>
<p>I’m bilingual and always get this vs next mixed up on days. I also find “of the” hour confusing - if someone says its 10 of 3 I have to check the clock myself to see what they mean.
Hopefully my kids are so used to my mix ups that they automatically ask for clarification when other people use that construction.</p>
<p>Frankly, I never think, I always clarify. But this is my job, ask, ask and ask again, so I might be different from others in this respect. </p>
<p>OP here. DS got his test back and he did fine. The teacher said over all kids didn’t do well however most of them passed so they are moving on.</p>
<p>That’s good news, OP!</p>
<p>I would think the options would be, “The test is Wednesday” or “The test is next Wednesday.” Very poor wording on the teacher’s part. I guess everyone is destined to get at least one or two teachers like this.</p>