Using "on" with week days 1

[kalistoh]

There's one thing about US grammar that has confused me & I'd be grateful for some input from you guys.

I often read about news items on Google News & they always report things happening on certain days as follows:

"announced Tuesday that"
"The US dollar rose against the Euro Thursday"

To me (being from the UK), these statements do not sound right. I think these sound better:

"announced on Tuesday that"
"The US dollar rose against the Euro on Thursday"

I'd be interested to know if this is a US thing?


(I'm assuming a US origin as I've only seen this on US sites.)

she who destroys the light

 

[KempCGDR]

Personally I find the version with 'on' preferrable (maybe because I'm from the UK as well), though I don't have any real problem with the sans version.

 

[Grenage]

I agree, the latter would definately be correct. I did wonder if Google were just being concise but they clearly would not have prefixed it with "The" if this was the case.

 

[Volk359]

I get paid on Friday." is perfectly acceptable or at least in my corner ofthe states.

 

[sha76]

I will sometimes miss out the on, but more as a spoken shorthand, eg "You out Friday?" rather than "Will you be coming into town with us on Friday night?". I wouldn't claim this as grammaticaly correct and I wouldn't miss the on out in a formal context.

"Your rock is eroding wrong." -Dogbert

 

[CajunCenturion]

Also from the states, I prefer the use of 'on'. One purpose of a preposition is to establish a relationship, in this case with respect to time. In my opinion, the preposition helps differentiate between a 'what' type object, and a 'when' type object.

He got paid money.
He got paid on Friday.

To mix some films, consider "James Bond got paid Friday."

Good Luck
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[SantaMufasa]

Kalistoh,

I never dreamed that I would get "prepositioned" on Tek-Tips, but it's true. I'm a Yank, but I'm also a precision-writing fanatic. IMHO, "...announced Tuesday that..." is sub-standard without the proposition, "on". Having said that, I just dismiss the omission as American journalistic shorthand.

But Brits also engage in various lingustic shorthand that Americans would have a difficult time with. An example of such Anglo-American linguistic diversity is the Anglo: "He's in hospital," versus the American "He's in the hospital." Americans would look at you curiously if you use the Anglo version.

Another discrepancy is the Anglo, "He's poorly" (using an adverb as an adjective) versus the American, "He's feeling poorly." Again, Americans would have a difficult time understanding the Anglo version.



Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[CorBlimeyLimey]

Why should it be "on" a day? Why not "in" or "during"? Would any of you use "announced on August that" or "announced on 2005 that"?

While we are at it ... Why do we say "at 2pm"

"announced at 2pm on Tuesday in August that"

English ... donchya gotta luv it?

& all the best.

 

[CajunCenturion]

That's a good point SantaMufasa. But Americans also drop the article in some cases. He's in school.

It is amazing how much difference a little article can make.

He's on pot.
He's on the pot.

Good Luck
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As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

CC, your "pot" example seems so apropos given the sub-thread in the "Where are we all from?" thread1256-1042317. Was your "example" pre-meditated or coincidental?

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[CajunCenturion]

Purely coincidental. It came to me as an example of how much influence the article, or absence thereof, can affect the meaning of a sentence.

In a similar vein, I saw a roadside sign the other dead that read "Boiled Crawfish with Corn and Pot". Anyone from around here would know that Pot = Potato.

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[SantaMufasa]

Correct...then there is a similar problem with ambiguous/misplaced pronouns:

You hold the hammer. I'll hold the nail. When I nod my head, you hit it.

Mufasa
(aka Dave of Sandy, Utah, USA)

http://www.dasages.com

Do you use Oracle and live or work in Utah, USA?
Then click here to join Utah Oracle Users Group on Tek-Tips.

 

[CajunCenturion]

I hope your hard-headed.

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[tsdragon]

CorBlimeyLimey: that's a really good point. Maybe we use different prepositions for each one for just that reason, so that if we say some like that we won't repeat ourselves.


Tracy Dryden

Meddle not in the affairs of dragons,
For you are crunchy, and good with mustard.

 

[kalistoh]

CorBlimeyLimey has really got me thinking about that.

I'm thinking aloud here...

[ul]
[li]the at signifies a definite point in time, ie. you know exactly when something is going to happen.[/li]

[li]on and in both convey that something will happen at some point during that day/month; you cannot define it any further without adding a time. [/li]
[/ul]

You know when something sounds really good in your head, but you just cannot put it into words that make sense?

Thanks for the replies,
- k

she who destroys the light

 

[Thadeus]

To mix some films, consider "James Bond got paid Friday."

While your mixing your movies, I think that Mr. Crusoe would rather have been paid in money-pennies than bonds regardless of the day... However if he were to be paid even a single money-penny on Friday, methinks the movie would carry a new rating...

~Thadeus

 

[CajunCenturion]

Thadeus - Excellent !!

Good Luck
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To get the most from your Tek-Tips experience, please read FAQ181-2886
As a circle of light increases so does the circumference of darkness around it. - Albert Einstein

 

[ESquared]

CC, you hope my hard-headed what? (Sorry, I couldn't resist.)

I don't have a problem with leaving the on out. It's all about parsing, and parsing days of week without the preposition is no problem.

I have noticed, though, that English is more insistent on retaining pronouns, but Portuguese is more insistent on retaining articles. Portuguese even uses articles for proper names, but it drops direct objects all the time.

In English you'd not say "I liked!" or "the Erik." Liked what? The Erik?

 

[SilentAiche]

"[blue]Stocks fell on Tuesday, but she wasn't injured[/blue]."

JAT,
Tim

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