"Following Tuesday"

Question

If on a Saturday someone refers to the "following Tuesday", which Tuesday is being referenced? The closest Tuesday, or the one after?

The first one, or the second one?: SAT SUN MON (TUE) WED THU FRI SAT SUN MON (TUE) WED

Thanks.

This may help: http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/3841/which-day-does-next-tuesday-refer-to — Father Luke, Jul 13 '15 at 00:01
Please could you provide the full sentence which contains the words 'following Tuesday'. — WS2, Jul 21 '15 at 20:34

score 0 · Accepted Answer · answered Jul 13 '15 at 04:21

Unlike "next Tuesday," "the following Tuesday" typically isn't stated without reference to another day of the week coming before it. For example, on a Saturday, if I said "next Tuesday," it would usually be understood to mean the Tuesday of the coming week. But the use of "following" indicates that the day comes after another day previously mentioned, most often in the sentence coming just before. Here is an example:

On Tuesday, February 4th, I started work. Out the door at 9am and back at 6pm. On Thursday I'm told I can't go back to work. On the following Tuesday, (my weekly visit with Martinez) he tells me I'm not allowed to work in a dental office due to the nature of my crime.

The Maine Conspiracy by Aaron S. Greenwald and Marie Greenwald

(Search Google Ngram for "the following [day of the week]" for other similar examples)

To answer your question, then, the speaker in the given example needs to provide more information in the form of a reference point (as a day of the week) from which the other day will follow.

"Following Tuesday"

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