A language problem: the word last.
30th December 2020
Recently, I have been engaged in a discussion with a friend about the way the word ‘last’ is employed in time and date phrases.
Though a very common word and not one you would normally dwell on for long, the word ‘last’ is important because it can give rise to confusion and misunderstanding. The simple dictionary definition of ‘last’ is ‘coming after all others in time or order, most recent in time, latest.’ As an adverb, ‘last’ means ‘on the last occasion before the present, previously.’ These are taken from the Concise Oxford English Dictionary.