How long is -ish when discussing timings?

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mailywhale@reddit

Depends completely on the timeframe. 10ish years ago is give or take 2 years probably. It doesn’t really refer to an amount of time, it refers to a lack of confidence

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NortonBurns@reddit

My friends would be there some time within ten minutes either side of 12.
My landlord would be anywhere from 1 - 4pm or might not turn up at all.

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SovietPanda__@reddit

Depends on the person but midday ish could be between 11:45am-13:30pm for me

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Exactly this. Midday-ish for my mum could have been any time that day or the day after. For my daughter it means she'll be there anything up to half and hour before midday to make absolutely sure she's not a second late.

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LewisMileyCyrus@reddit

why only 15 minutes before but up to 90 minutes afterwards? Out of interest

I'm not sure I would have thought, perhaps an hour either way, but it'd be the same timeframe either side anyway

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asphaltOnline@reddit

Because no one is ever early if they say -ish 🤣

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SnooCakes1636@reddit

Hmm I use -ish to indicate I might be early or late.

The specific scenarios I’m thinking about are when, every other weekend, I need to do the rounds visiting family.

I visit 3 family members every other Saturday- round trip mileage to visit all of them is around 60. Traffic plays a huge part in the time I arrive, as does the time I depart the last location. It’s not unusual to be 30 minutes early if the traffic is quiet and there’s no sporting events happening in the vicinity.

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SnooCakes1636@reddit

Hmm I use -ish to indicate I might be early or late.

The specific scenarios I’m thinking about are when, every other weekend, I need to do the rounds visiting family.

I visit 3 family members every other Saturday- round trip mileage to visit all of them is around 60. Traffic plays a huge part in the time I arrive, as does the time I depart the last location. It’s not unusual to be 30 minutes early if the traffic is quiet and there’s no sporting events happening in the vicinity.

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alphahydra@reddit

People are more likely to be unexpectedly late than unexpectedly early.

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Longshot318@reddit

It's subjective. If most people said to me "midday ish" I'd assume 12-1. I have a couple of friends however where that could mean 'at some point the day after tomorrow'.

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scruffyrosalie@reddit

For a time of day, anywhere from 10 minutes before to 90 minutes later.

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Minute-Employ-4964@reddit

15 minutes either side.

12ish is 11:45 to 12:15 etc

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LowAioli3870@reddit

So if I'm going away for a week-ish, that's 7 days +/- 15 minutes.

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Minute-Employ-4964@reddit

Nah but who would say they’re going away for a weekish?

But in that scenario I’d say it’s plus or minus 1 day

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lookhereisay@reddit

I’d say just before 12 or up to 12:30. More time after than before.

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Umph73@reddit

Half of the unit of time that proceeds the -ish.

12ish would be 11:30 to 13:30

30 minutes ish : 15 to 45 mins

August ish : Mid July to mid September

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buttnuggetmaster@reddit

Maybe 30 minutes either side

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BikeProblemGuy@reddit

I think you're confusing two things: 'what do they mean?' vs 'when will they arrive?'. When someone says they'll arrive at 'midday-ish', this means that they don't know exactly when they'll arrive, and given how arriving for things works it's likely they don't have a precise range in mind. Like consider these two situations:

There are two buses, one arrives at 11:50 and the next arrives at 12:05, and I know I'll be on one of those buses. That's a precise range.
I'll arrive after I've helped my brother move some furniture, which will probably take the morning but I don't really know. This is a really imprecise range.

Both of these situations could be described with 'midday-ish' and it's on you two to clarify if needed. Assuming that '-ish' is some universal +/- 30 mins or +/- 10% is just going to lead to miscommunication and frustration. Imprecision is always contextual, the same way "Don't be late" means different amounts of leeway if you're arriving for a doctor's appointment vs a skatepark hangout.

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spynie55@reddit

between 11:30 and 12:30 for me. After 12:30 would be 'one ish'

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Kapika96@reddit

or - about 10 mins.

If somebody says meet at 12ish and they show up at 12:30, I'd consider them late. 12:10 would be acceptable though.

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pgnlzbth@reddit

11:45am - 12:15pm. I take ish to mean around the time. If it was going to potentially be later than that, I’d expect them to say ‘between 12 and 1’ or something.

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michalakos@reddit

Obligatory, ESL speaker, I moved here a little over 10 years ago.

To me, -ish sounds like it means after the time stated. So 12-ish is from 12 to 12:30.

Midday-ish would be anywhere from 12-2pm

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lilphoenixgirl95@reddit

I agree as a native English speaker

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Aromatic_Tourist4676@reddit

Anywhere between 11.45 and 1pm

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Quiet-Rabbit-524@reddit

Up to 20%

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emmiewag@reddit

12-1

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alphahydra@reddit

Totally dependent on what the appointment is and other information.

A tradie saying "I have a busy morning but I'll try to get to your house about midday-ish", you know the unknown factor is a job he's doing before yours, there's quite a big window of uncertainty depending on how that goes, and he's more likely to run late than early. So I'd be thinking maybe 11.45am (at best) to 1pm or even a bit later.

A colleague picking you up for work in the morning who says "I'll be there about 8-ish". You're both running to a tight schedule, and can't skew too much later than that. Probably 7.50am to 8.10am.

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velos85@reddit

between 12/1

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seklas1@reddit

Considering people generally being bad at being on time, I’d say 12-ish would be not before 12, but by 1pm or so. Atleast that’s what it is in my circles.

Midday-ish is probably a slightly wider window, but I’ve never used or heard people say “midday-ish”, I’d say it’s between 11am-2pm

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R33Gtst@reddit

Some time in the vicinity of midday.

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