Let's talk this afternoon...

Let's talk this afternoon...

"I'll call you this afternoon," my Spanish partner told me. This was a few years ago and we were then in a long-distance relationship. Those who have been in long-distance relationships will know how coordinating time is crucial in keeping sparks alive, catching up on each other's days, and generally avoiding a rocky road.

So I waited that afternoon. And to my surprise, kept waiting. At about 5 p.m., I gave up, utterly annoyed now and collecting all my agency to stay calm. And at around 8.00 p.m., I get a message - "I'm free now!"

This happened quite a few times (to my utter chagrin) before we were able to ultimately address it.

Now before the reader starts assuming things about gender differences, polychronic cultures, and all those extremely complex topics, it turns out that the matter was much simpler than that. Linguistics.

You see when I mentioned the word "afternoon" - what is the time frame that crossed your mind?

For an English speaker, "afternoon" is the time after "noon" and until evening sets in. So between 1.00 p.m. and 4.30 p.m. give or take. In English, we have different terms for the time of day - morning, afternoon, evening, night. If we want to be more specific, mid-morning, mid-afternoon, early evening, late evening, etc. The same applies in Dutch - where we have morgen, middag, avond and nacht.

For a Spanish speaker, I soon discovered, with ma?ana, tarde and noche, "afternoon" starts at around 2.00 p.m. and goes all the way till 9.00 p.m.! So basically, after lunch (which for Spaniards maybe at 3.00 p.m.), and all the way till you have dinner!

So when my partner offered to speak in the afternoon, we had both interpreted that in our own way. I was frustrated by his tardiness and he was completely oblivious of my waiting impatiently all afternoon!

How easy to draw conclusions when we are unclear on the intention and interpretation.

So what's "afternoon" for you?

#mondaymorningmusing #interculturalliving


Tim Unsworth

International Education-focussed Project Coordinator, Course Developer, Lecturer (European Studies) at Thorbecke Academy of NHL-Stenden in the Netherlands

2 年

Some food for thought here, Divya Susan, thanks. This says so much about how we almost automatically assume that 'our' meaning of a word is the same in other cultures. I often explain to Dutch learners of English that 'English isn't Dutch in another language', that there are not only 'false friends', but also cultural (mis)-interpretations, such as the time-related one you illustrate here. This post about 'time' got me thinking; there is between half and one hour time difference in the rhythm of the working day between my native UK and The Netherlands, where I now live. UK offices tend to start around 0900h, here it's nearer 0800h. The working day tends to end earlier here; trades-people finishing around 1600h, offices a little later. 'Lunch' is around 1200/1230h here, a little later in the UK. In the UK, an 'afternoon' meeting would usually start around 1400h, at the earliest. Here it's not unusual to be invited to a meeting from 1300h. On a lighter note, a Dutch after-work drink and social gathering (a 'borrel') can be around 1600h on a Friday, instead of the UK's 'down the pub' at 1730-ish!

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