Unclear Instructions Using “Up To”

Hello, you have A Way with Words.

Hi.

Hi, who’s this?

This is Bonnie from San Diego.

Hi, Bonnie. Welcome to the program.

Hi, Bonnie.

Thank you.

Hi. Thank you very much.

Okay, here’s what I’m confused about.

Okay?

I have a flyer in front of me that says, “Space is limited, sign up at the front desk required, call up to 24 hours in advance.”

So I called before 24 hours in advance, and she said, “Oh, no, no, no, no. That means you have to call after 24 hours in advance.”

Well, so my question is up to means, to me, means before that time. And to her, it meant after that time.

Yeah, that’s strange.

Isn’t that strange?

And then I’m looking at another one that says the gallery is open to the public from 5 p.m.

So it seems to me that it should be from 24 hours in advance. What do you think? Or within 24 hours of whatever the thing is.

Was her original language English?

Yes.

It’s on a flyer.

It’s on a flyer from the gym.

Boy.

I wonder if they got a lot of people calling like you did, because I don’t think that’s ever really the right use. Do you?

Yeah, I can’t imagine.

And the reason I asked about that is because prepositions tend to bedevil people who speak English as a second language.

But did this person hold her ground? Did they say, “No, we’re not going to accept reservations before?”

That’s right.

She did.

I had to call back.

Oh, my gosh.

Because I would have been confused, too.

To me, if you say call up to 24 hours in advance, it means you can call 48 hours in advance or 72 hours in advance, but you can’t call after 24 hours.

And they meant exactly the opposite.

That’s so weird.

I mean, I get a visual up to 24 hours. You can see it.

I appreciate what I appreciate. The one way I could get my mind around that is up to 24 hours means a maximum of 24 hours in advance.

And if she just said that, that might have been, that might have worked.

Oh, so maybe she was thinking about it from her deadline out.

Yes.

Yes.

She was thinking like, “Well, I could do 12 hours in advance or do more, which is up to 24 hours in advance.”

Yeah, that’s, yeah.

But she might have just said a maximum of 24 hours in advance, or no more than 24 hours in advance.

Well, that’s a good lesson for writers in considering your audience. Think about how they’re looking at it rather than how you’re looking at it.

Right.

Or no more than 24 hours in advance.

Very good. That would work as well.

That would work too.

Okay. Well, then I will, you know, one hates to be picky about many things, but I think I’ll be picky.

I think I will point this out to them.

You might do it with flowers.

Or a contribution or something.

Yeah, or a contribution or something.

But really, Bonnie, I think this is a perfect example of where somebody’s not being peevish or picky about English. This is vital.

It’s a true misunderstanding.

It’s a true misunderstanding that has consequences.

Well, exactly.

Yeah.

Yeah, obviously.

I’d be curious to know how many other people, as Grant said, were calling it the wrong time.

Bonnie, thank you for calling and sharing the misunderstanding.

Okay, thank you.

Bye-bye.

Bye-bye.

Bye.

Sometimes you just don’t understand, and you’ve got to help the other person not to make that mistake again, right?

Exactly, yes.

You kind of have a responsibility to gently and politely nudge them in the right direction.

Right, and it can be done politely.

Yeah, that’s what I was indicating with the flowers.

It’s not to call and rant.

Bonnie doesn’t sound like the kind of woman who would do that.

No, but I think they should be giving her flowers for calling it to their attention.

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