Poll of idle curiosity

[sally_maria]

After a couple of misunderstandings over the last few months, I thought it might be interesting to find out whether this was an individual or cultural thing.

Poll #7141

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 12

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If I were to say something will last until the 31st May what would you think I meant?

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That it will stop at the beginning of the 31st.
0 (0.0%)

That it will stop at some point in the day, maybe at close of business.
3 (25.0%)

That it will stop at the end of the 31st.
9 (75.0%)

Something else that I will explain in a comment.
0 (0.0%)

If I refer to midnight on the 31st May, which do I mean?

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The boundary between 30th May and the 31st
2 (16.7%)

The boundary between 31st May and the 1st June.
10 (83.3%)

Is midnight?

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The beginning of the day.
1 (8.3%)

The end of the day.
9 (75.0%)

Something else that I will explain in a comment.
2 (16.7%)

Where are you from?

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Britain
8 (66.7%)

North America
2 (16.7%)

Europe
1 (8.3%)

The Rest of the World ;-)
1 (8.3%)

It's Complicated
0 (0.0%)

Comments

[james]

Midnight is both beginning and end; I worked overnight for years and midnight was about an hour before lunchtime. ;-)

[sally_maria]

:-) That's definitely a good point.

It can be a very arbitrary point - after all, I think for a lot of us the day ends when we go to bed.