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I'm watching the movie “The Help” (2011) and at the 55th minute one character says to another:

“Oh, Skeeter, Stuart's definitely coming this time. Next Saturday week.”

I've never seen this strange construction in my 25 years of studying English. Does it mean next week's Saturday? What's the deal with it?! Why not simply "Next Saturday."? (which, by the way, I've read to most English speakers means "next week's Saturday", NOT "the coming/nearest Saturday" as in my country)

Maybe it's an outdated construction, since the movie is supposed to be set around 1960?

gotube
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denip
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    It's British and means on the next Saturday which is a week from now. – Lambie Jun 06 '23 at 16:36
  • @Lambie I've never heard this either. Do you mean it can only be said on a Saturday about the Saturday a week after, or that it's equivalent to "A week Saturday"? – gotube Jun 08 '23 at 02:22
  • I'm surprised a quick search doesn't find other questions about this expression, but for comparison there are plenty about "next Xday": https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/67658/what-does-a-week-on-tuesday-mean https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/25038/whats-the-difference-between-next-friday-and-the-next-friday https://ell.stackexchange.com/questions/156155/when-is-next-saturday – Stuart F Jun 08 '23 at 08:48

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The construction “Saturday week” refers to the Saturday 7 days after the Saturday coming up. (Eg. If today is Wednesday, “Saturday week” refers to the Saturday 10 days from now)

It’s typically British and in my experience has currency in Australia at least.

“Next Saturday” is not as unambiguous as you imply to most speakers: it depends on how close you are to Saturday. On a Friday it most likely means not tomorrow but the Saturday a week from now, but on Sunday or Monday it could really be either. Using “Saturday week” is a way of clarifying.

“Next Saturday week” as it is in your quote is less common, but it is a more conversational use of the same construction.

Ben Murphy
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