It is October now, so do you say "this December" or "next December", or maybe both? Of course I am talking about the month after next.
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1This probably opinion based, but I would say "this coming December".– user3169Commented Oct 8, 2014 at 19:20
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1Why not just say December this year?– Dust_In_The_WindCommented Oct 8, 2014 at 20:31
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2For nearly all native speakers in nearly all contexts, this December means the month of December in the current year. But if you were speaking in, say, January you'd very likely simply drop the qualifier completely to avoid any possibility of ambiguity (if you meant "in 11 month's time"). If in January you wanted to reference a time 23 months hence, it would be a bit stupid to rely on next being unambiguously understood. Natural language simply isn't that precise.– FumbleFingersCommented Oct 8, 2014 at 21:06
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1alternatively you could say "upcoming December"– en.newbie21Commented Oct 8, 2014 at 23:45
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1@FumbleFingers "Nearly all contexts" is much too strong. In "this December I went to Hawaii" it refers to December last year, not this year.– user230Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 7:13
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2 Answers
If it's clear you're referring to the future, "this December" should be okay all year round. "Next December", however, might be understood both as "the one that comes next", or "the next one after this one", with the second option seemingly being more common.
If it's not that clear - for example, if you're asked "what's the release date for the new Lara Croft game?" - you would risk being ambiguous with "this", but generally wouldn't with "next", if you're closer to the previous December than to the upcoming one.
In October, I'd generally use "this", though if you actually risk offshooting by a year, it's best to just say "December this/next/last year".
answered Oct 8, 2014 at 19:45
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A real life illustration of this answer. I lived in a city where highway exit signs were worded "XYZ this exit, ABC next exit". "This" was the upcoming one, "next" was the one after. I moved to a city where the signs were worded "XYZ next exit", meaning the upcoming one. I wasted a lot of gas missing exits. "Next" does not have a universal meaning. Commented Mar 21, 2017 at 21:39
My two cents to this.
...coming December
is also used if I'm talking about December 2014 right now
I also agree with this December which means the same. Mind it that if this month is December, 2014, we say 'next December' to talk about December 2015
answered Oct 9, 2014 at 5:46
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Yes, "this coming December" is fine if you're trying to clarify, although people would generally just say "December".– user230Commented Oct 9, 2014 at 7:22