It was said by George Bernard Shaw that England and America are two countries separated by a common language. If that is true, then Caroline is England and I am America.
For three weeks this August, we are spending a lot more time together at home than we usually do and all because ten years ago, Caroline embarked on a Masters degree. However, she didn’t realise that was what she was doing at the time.
To begin with, Caroline thought that she and other members of her team in Camden, where she worked, were merely attending a 6-day course on “Mentoring and Coaching” that was run by the Institute of Education in London. Upon successful completion of the course she was awarded a Graduate Certificate.
Two years later, when we were living in Cayman, Caroline commissioned the Institute to run a National Education Leadership Programme for headteachers and other leaders of education on the island and she participated in the course herself.
At its successful conclusion, the visiting professor from London told Caroline that if she cashed in her graduate certificate from Camden, she was well on the way to obtaining a Master’s degree.
The final module in this marathon is a 20,000 word dissertation and as the deadline for its completion is September 2nd this year, Caroline is devoting her (and my) 2 weeks summer holiday to finishing and submitting it.
After ten years, the end is in sight!
Our language problem started at lunch yesterday, Sunday August 4th.
“What’s your schedule?” I asked.
“I hope to have it finished by the end of next week.”
“Twelve more days then?”
“No, I hope to have it finished by next Friday.”
“Another twelve days then?”
“No Friday, next week.”
“Another twelve days then?” I was becoming irritated.
“No, next Friday.”
“Next Friday is the sixteenth. Today is the fourth. Twelve days!”
“No, you idiot. The next Friday is in five days time on the ninth.”
“Look,” I snapped in some exasperation, “the next Friday is the ninth and so you meant THIS Friday, not NEXT Friday!”
We ate the delicious lamb and ginger curry I’d made in an uneasy silence for a minute or two. Then I had another thought.
“You said Friday, next week. The next Friday is in this week, not next week.”
“That depends when you start the week,” was Caroline’s strange response.
“Well I and most other people, start the week on Sunday. Sunday is the first day of the week and so this Friday is in this week.”
“Monday’s the first day of the week as far as I’m concerned,” she said.
“But that’s like saying that the year starts with February or that there are 26 people sitting round this table because you start counting at 25.”
“All right then,” Caroline countered, “What days make up the weekend?”
“Saturday and Sunday, of course.”
“Yes. You see? Sunday is the end of the weekend and so it can’t be the start of the week.”
I reluctantly conceded that she had a point. I thought about it for a while: Today is Monday August 4th and so in conversation with someone:
Tuesday would be “tomorrow”.
Wednesday is “the day after tomorrow”.
Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday would be “this Thursday or this Friday etc.”
Monday August 12th and every other day that week would be “next Monday…. etc.”
Monday the 19th would be “on Monday week” and so on for all the days of that week.”
I think that Caroline unwittingly put her finger on the cause of the problem.
Some people call Sunday the first day of the week because, according to the Old Testament of the Bible, Saturday is at the end of the week as it was God's day of rest after six days of work, beginning on Sunday.
But there are difficulties. For instance, Microsoft is confused. The 'United States' setting has their calendar week start on Sunday but for the 'United Kingdom' setting, the calendar week starts on Monday.
Countries that use Slavic languages treat Monday as the first day, Tuesday as the second day while Saturday and Sunday are the only days in their week that are named rather than numbered. In Hungarian, a non-Slavic language, Tuesday comes from the word for 'two' and so, by implication, the week starts on Monday.
The word 'weekend' was first recorded in 1878 and it refers to 'the period between the close of one working week and the beginning of the next'. This concept firmly places Sunday at the end of the week and therefore Monday is Day One.
Airline timetables also number the days from Monday as 1, Tuesday as 2, Wednesday as 3, etc.
However, in Saudi Arabia and other Muslim countries, western-based businesses are told not to try to arrange a visit on a Thursday because it is the start of the weekend.
Some years ago, the International Organisation for Standardisation, in an attempt to clarify matters, specified Monday as the first day of the week.
The evidence therefore seems to me to be overwhelmingly stacked in favour of Caroline’s assertion that Monday is the first day of the week. I, however, still think that the week starts on Sunday but as with the metric system, it seems that The USA (and I) are out of step with the rest of the world and maybe, just maybe, Caroline is right.
She may also be right in her opinion that the lamb and ginger curry would be improved unless by the addition of sultanas but I won’t try it unless she is right and then I would never hear the end of it.
Wednesday afternoon - the day after tomorrow
We've just had lunch with Tom, my son. He, much to Caroline's huge annoyance, agrees with me that the week starts on Sunday and to back up his view he sang the first verse from the theme to the American 70s comedy series, "Happy Days"
Sunday, Monday, Happy Days,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Happy Days,
Thursday, Friday, Happy Days,
Saturday, what a day,
Rockin’ all week with you.
That is definitive proof. To have happy days, the week starts on Sunday.
In Greek, Monday is Δευτέρα, meaning the second day. Tuesday is Τρίτη (third), Wednesday is Τετάρτη (fourth) and Thursday Πέμπτη (fifth). On my Smart Phone, I always select the option for making Sunday the first day. Clearly not everyone does.
ReplyDeleteSo I'm in with the Greeks and the Americans. I'm not sure that's a good thing.
ReplyDelete