In the morning = tomorrow, any time? (2024)

When you call someone on the phone, and they ask you to call back in the morning, I get the feeling that they in fact mean any time tomorrow, rather than tomorrow morning (say, before lunch)?

I'd be interested to find out what the natives think, i.e. does 'in the morning' mean any time tomorrow or tomorrow morning? Any geographic difference?

Context:
Caller: I'd like to speak to Mr. X., please.
Receptionist: He's gone for the day. Please call back in the morning.
Caller: What time will he be available?
Receptionist: Late afternoon, probably.

This has occurred to me when calling up a lot of Irish people at work (i.e. in the Republic of Ireland). A lot of the times I've got the sense that they don't mean literally tomorrow morning, but rather any time tomorrow.

/Wilma

Hi Wilma

That phone conversation is hilarious! I would have thought it meant 'call before midday tomorrow', but maybe it's an Irish thing...

Well, the example is totally confusing in the US. Perhaps in Ireland "in the morning" means at any time tomorrow. But in the US, without the followup question, "in the morning" means exactly what it says: you should call back on the next morning, that is, before noon. If Mr. X is is not going to be available until late afternoon tomorrow, a US receptionist should say, "Please call back late tomorrow afternoon," or "Tomorrow after 4 [p.m.]." "Morning" is cognate to German "Morgen/morgen," which can be a noun meaning "the first half of the day" or an adverb meaning "tomorrow" ("in the morning" = "morgens"). Perhaps Irish English retains the dual meaning of both "first half of the day" and "tomorrow" for "morning."

Or perhaps the receptionists are careless or are just used to telling people to call back "in the morning" without thinking about whether the person currently absent will actually be available before noon.

ewie said:

Yes Wilma, I can well imagine Irish folk using in the morning to mean tomorrow some time. (This is a bit close to national stereotyping, for which I apologize, but it always seems to me that the Irish have a more relaxed attitude to this kind of thing) For me, though, in the morning means specifically tomorrow morning ... and only that.

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Hmmm, maybe I should do a survey by specifically asking those who say 'in the morning' how long their morning lasts, or something to that effect!

I have understood that in the past (Jane Austen's day or earlier), the morning lasted most of the day until dinner time, which is why the ladies could happily spend quality afternoon time with their friends in the morning room...

Perhaps this long morning has lingered on in the Republic...

/Wilma

JulianStuart said:

The word manana comes to mind as one in Spanish that fulfills both functions : tomorrow and morning. I don't speak Spanish enough to add more than that but if /Wilma's example conversation had been translated into Spanish it would have made more sense ?

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In Ireland we don't have any linguistic expression that carries quite the same sense of urgency as mañana.

In the top half of The Island you should assume that "in the morning" refers to the forenoon of the following day.
In the lower half, it means any time from the forenoon onwards - in essence it means "not today for God's sake!"

Sorry, this is a complete fabrication. I lied. Although I used to be in regular contact with colleagues in Dublin I never noticed that they had a particularly flexible interpretation of "in the morning".

panjandrum said:

in essence it means "not today for God's sake!"

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Funny you should say that, because this is exactly the impression I have had in many cases, your 'fabrication' label notwithstanding.

I accept that most English speakers identify it as the early part of the day, though, and I'm quite satisfied with this conclusion, even if I might be inclined to persistently ask those responders what time of day they do mean!

/Wilma

Banbha said:

If you need to know anything about the Irish, we are not punctual in any shape or form

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Nice to see my suspicions confirmed by an Irishman from 'the lower half' (as Panjandrum put it)! I learned early on that if an Irishman says 'call back in five minutes', you'd better wait at least 20, and so on... If I ever have a date in Ireland, I shall certainly make a point of meeting inside a pub, so whoever comes first can have a pint indoors instead of freezing his/her derrière off in the standard Irish weather...

I like the custom, though, as I'm always a little late and that Swedish lutheran punctuality will one day drive me completely round the bend. Relocating to Ireland seems like a good idea!

/Wilma