What does "in" mean in the following sentence? "NASA lanched the satellite. But several days in, something went wrong." Does it mean after several days?
asked Jan 4, 2018 at 21:04
-
"several days in(to the flight)..."– user3169Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 0:10
Add a comment
|
2 Answers
Several days in
Expressions like this can be interpreted as equivalent to "after" ("several days after") in this case.
Typically, in would be used in an expression like this when it's relative to another given time period
4 hours into the 12 hour flight, I became sick
or
We were going on a 12 day vacation. Three days in, ....
-
4 hours into the 12 hours flight means after 4 hours of the flight, right? Commented Jan 5, 2018 at 0:11
-
Yes. The point was more that "in" often is used relative to some other defined time period– equesCommented Jan 5, 2018 at 14:08
It is another example of idiom born of lazy language usage. Using "in" in such context shortens the idea and depends on the implication of the previous part of the conversation. Using in for into the journey, into the process, into the treatment, etc. relieves the writer of repeating what may already have been said and understood,
