'From' As A Future Time Reference

[jaF0]

I see things like this news headline from this morning:

"China to hold annual parliament meeting from March 5"

And I've seen statements like 'we'll be closed from two weeks' or similar. I take them to mean 'we'll be closed starting in two weeks' or 'China to hold annual parliament meeting starting March 5.'

The sources seem to be Asian more than European, but what I'm not sure of is whether it's their normal way of speaking or if something is lost in the translation to English.


Thoughts?

 

[oggbashan]

It is a fairly standard journalistic usage in British English. It saves words in a headline or sub-head.

 

[SimonDoom]

I usually see it as "We'll be closed from March 5 to March 12," where "from" is used to indicate a passage of time from one future date to another. That's common. Dropping the "to xxxx" is, in my experience, less common, and odd, because it doesn't indicate when the closure will end and almost suggests it may be indefinite.

 

[jehoram]

It is a fairly standard journalistic usage in British English. It saves words in a headline or sub-head.

I don't remember ever seeing it in American usage, unless it's in the citation of "from...to) that SimonDoom mentioned. It's "beginning" or "as of" or "starting.'

 

[Bramblethorn]

I suppose this is at partly a result of instant communication via email or texting, where one doesn't bother to proofread a message before hitting the Send button.

Muphry's Law claims another victim.

 

[Bramblethorn]

I don't remember ever seeing it in American usage, unless it's in the citation of "from...to) that SimonDoom mentioned. It's "beginning" or "as of" or "starting.'

It does seem to be more of a UK/Commonwealth thing, but I found a few US examples. For instance:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WGDP-2019-Annual-Report-02102020.pdf
"The President directed departments and agencies to develop Action Plans outlining how they will advance this work, which will be documented in subsequent editions of the W-GDP Annual Report from 2021 forward."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/fashion/mylo-mushroom-leather-adidas-stella-mccartney.html
"Sun Choe, Lululemon’s chief product officer, said Mylo would be found across its accessories and equipment lines in a “variety of applications” from 2021, adding that the company had never before formed an alliance with rival brands of this nature."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/sports/autoracing/pirelli-formula-one-new-tires.html
"For 2020, Pirelli will continue to refine and produce its current specification of tires that fit 13-inch wheel rims. But from 2021, teams will use 18-inch tires as part of the new regulations."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...cf37ba-44f4-11eb-ac2a-3ac0f2b8ceeb_story.html
"From 2021, a team will be able to introduce a permanent replacement if a player suffers a head injury, even if it’s used up all its substitutions."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...1d8c88-f35c-11ea-8025-5d3489768ac8_story.html
"The money would be spent from 2021 on projects aimed at supporting growth, digitalization and transforming the economy..."

 

[jaF0]

"Annual Report from 2021 forward." That one and a couple of others are OK. A few of those are questionable, but still not what I see in Euro or Asia usage. I really see it in eBay listings or emails from sellers over there.

 

[SimonDoom]

It does seem to be more of a UK/Commonwealth thing, but I found a few US examples. For instance:

https://www.whitehouse.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/WGDP-2019-Annual-Report-02102020.pdf
"The President directed departments and agencies to develop Action Plans outlining how they will advance this work, which will be documented in subsequent editions of the W-GDP Annual Report from 2021 forward."

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/02/fashion/mylo-mushroom-leather-adidas-stella-mccartney.html
"Sun Choe, Lululemon’s chief product officer, said Mylo would be found across its accessories and equipment lines in a “variety of applications” from 2021, adding that the company had never before formed an alliance with rival brands of this nature."

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/06/sports/autoracing/pirelli-formula-one-new-tires.html
"For 2020, Pirelli will continue to refine and produce its current specification of tires that fit 13-inch wheel rims. But from 2021, teams will use 18-inch tires as part of the new regulations."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...cf37ba-44f4-11eb-ac2a-3ac0f2b8ceeb_story.html
"From 2021, a team will be able to introduce a permanent replacement if a player suffers a head injury, even if it’s used up all its substitutions."

https://www.washingtonpost.com/busi...1d8c88-f35c-11ea-8025-5d3489768ac8_story.html
"The money would be spent from 2021 on projects aimed at supporting growth, digitalization and transforming the economy..."

These are good catches but I have a slight quibble about whether they are like the OP's example.

The OP's example was of an event of discrete duration to take place sometime after March 5. But ALL of the examples you have cited, other than the first one, which includes the word "forward" to add clarity, appear to refer to events of indefinite and possibly infinite duration, where "from" is used more or less as a synonym for "after." I don't know why in some of the cases one wouldn't simply use "after," except perhaps as a kind of affectation. To my American ear that's how it sounds, anyway.

 

[Voboy]

I've seen this in "official" British usage for many years; not that I'm British, nor official, but when you're into the kinds of reading interests I'm into, you see this kind of construction frequently.

British or American, though, I'd think only a very great imbecile wouldn't be able to figure out what it means.

 

[SisterJezabel]

Around these parts it’s common to read “We’ll be closed for a fortnight from 24/12”

 

[jaF0]

^^ But even that version states a duration which the headline I quoted above does not.

 

[jaF0]

Just spotted this one:

"UK to Roll Out Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine From Jan. 4, Sunday Telegraph Says"


That just seems so odd to me.

 

[SimonDoom]

Just spotted this one:

"UK to Roll Out Oxford COVID-19 Vaccine From Jan. 4, Sunday Telegraph Says"


That just seems so odd to me.

There's a difference, too, between the appropriate conventions for headlines and for text, in journalism. Both examples you have given are headlines. The verbs are left out, but that's appropriate for a headline. Space is at a premium with the drafting of a headline, to a greater degree than for text. Bramblethorn's 5 examples were for text and consisted of full sentences, while both your examples are headlines, and are not complete sentences.

I would agree with Voboy that it's clear from the usage that "from" means "after," but the phrase still is incomplete and vague as to the duration of the event. I understand adopting that convention in a headline, but not in text.

 

[jaF0]

But I would still use either 'starting' or 'beginning' in both of those headlines even leaving out other bits.

 

[SisterJezabel]

But I would still use either 'starting' or 'beginning' in both of those headlines even leaving out other bits.

Back pre-covid when movies were released weekly and eagerly anticipated for months it was common to see "Debbie Does Dallas, in cinemas from Boxing Day" or the like...

 

[Voboy]

I would agree with Voboy that it's clear from the usage that "from" means "after," but the phrase still is incomplete and vague as to the duration of the event. I understand adopting that convention in a headline, but not in text.

Sometimes, life is just vague.

Some of us are much less comfortable with ambiguity than others are. But, often, certainty just cannot exist, regardless of how badly we wish it could.

The phrasing makes perfect sense in the case of the Oxford vaccine rollout, for example. Starts on 04 January, and why does the end-date matter? It doesn't. They'll keep jabbin' til they get everyone. Could take four frenzied days of syringe-filled madness, or four months of more measured dosing. Who can tell? And why does it matter?

Both puns above, by the way, were fully intended.

 

[oggbashan]

The vaccine headline, from...

Has been repeated in other newspapers and on Yahoo UK news.