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I am registering for a conference as an author. The deadline information says "Author Registration by 20 Oct 2014". Can I register it tomorrow, which is 20 Oct. 2014?

CyberPlayerOne
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    We get so many of these type of questions. Why? And why not simply check with the organisers? – WS2 Oct 19 '14 at 08:45
  • It's certainly a duplicate, but I feel that the accepted answer in the linked question isn't a good one - it gives an answer based on logical parsing, while ignoring the ambiguity of common usage. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Oct 19 '14 at 08:57
  • The accepted answer is only the answer which helped the asker of that question. It doesn't mean that every other asker has to choose that answer. Or, indeed, that other answers cannot be added. – Andrew Leach Oct 19 '14 at 09:23
  • @Avner: I don't believe that common usage is ambiguous. If something has to be done by a date, it has to be done on or before that date. The only ambiguity is: by what time on that date must it be done? – Peter Shor Oct 19 '14 at 14:25
  • @PeterShor Exactly. It can be parsed as "by the beginning of the day" or "the end of the day", so the linked answer's claim that "it includes the day" isn't really meaningful. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Oct 19 '14 at 14:31
  • @Avner: It's not usually parsed "by the beginning of the day". But certainly both "by the close of business hours on that day" and "by midnight on that day" are common. – Peter Shor Oct 19 '14 at 14:33
  • @PeterShor I've seen cases where "by the 5th" means that the receiving end needs the information on the 5th. "We are updating all records on the 5th, so any update forms must be submitted by then" would imply that. – Avner Shahar-Kashtan Oct 19 '14 at 14:35

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