How to say: "I will try to move it to an earlier time" or what is the opposite of "delay"

Question

I have a meeting that I think should be moved to an earlier time. What is the best way to say it?

E.g. if I wanted to move it to a later time, I can use the word "delay":

"I would like to delay the meeting"

How do I say the oposite?

"I would like to __ the meeting" (to advance? to precede? none of them sound right)

In India, you can prepone meetings. Outside of India, that would probably get you some strange looks. — mmyers, Nov 16 '10 at 20:11
See http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/2246/how-do-i-say-our-meeting-is-preponed and http://english.stackexchange.com/questions/808/is-prepone-being-used-outside-india — b.roth, Nov 16 '10 at 20:13
I think the most common phrase is "move the meeting up", right? — Kosmonaut, Nov 16 '10 at 20:14
I'd rather use to postpone a meeting instead of delaying it. It sounds more neutral. — Daniel Sparing, Jun 06 '17 at 13:20

score 21 · Accepted Answer · answered Nov 18 '10 at 21:05

21

How about "I would like to bring the meeting forward to...". This is based on an accepted antonym of delay "bring forward".

answered Nov 18 '10 at 21:05

Gary

869

+1, since this would have been my answer too! – thesunneversets Nov 19 '10 at 04:20
English is a great language, but if moving something forward in time is delaying, why just "moving it forward" is the opposite? But I can't argue with facts, I assume native speakers won't be confused when I'll tell them to move the meeting forward, however non native speakers might be, as I would have with the axis of time in their mind :) – Eran Medan Apr 03 '11 at 02:30
@Ehrann I see your point. Perhaps if you think of the timeline as a physical distance. I push something back to make it be further away, I pull something forward to make it closer. – Gary Apr 03 '11 at 07:24

score 12 · Answer 2 · answered Apr 03 '11 at 22:34

12

Advance fits the bill all right:

[ trans. ] cause (an event) to occur at an earlier date than planned: I advanced the date of the meeting by several weeks.

answered Apr 03 '11 at 22:34

F'x

38,736

Can you add link and attribution, please? – Edwin Ashworth Nov 01 '23 at 12:00

score 3 · Answer 3 · edited Nov 19 '10 at 03:45

My few cents: In actual practice I would probably just say or write:

"Can we move our meeting on April 23rd on 7 p.m. up to 5 p.m.? I'm unable to make it at 7 p.m." or "Can we move our meeting on April 23rd from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.?"

If this was a much higher boss (or one that required a lot of deference) I would write:

Would it be convenient for you to move/reschedule our meeting on April 23rd from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m.? I am unable to make a 7 p.m. appointment on that date.

To reschedule for an earlier time (or "moving the meeting up) brings up the possibility of changing the date as well as the time, in my mind.

In my mind, "move it to an earlier time" doesn't require that it occur on the same day. — Marthaª, Nov 16 '10 at 21:20

Kevin · Answer 4 · 2017-07-26T03:44:12.330

2

Expedite.
verb (used with object), expedited, expediting.
1. to speed up the progress of; hasten:

edited Jul 26 '17 at 03:44

answered Apr 04 '11 at 14:59

Kevin

7,900

you could just give an example sentence. – Matt E. Эллен Apr 04 '11 at 15:23
Yes, but that wouldn't express my irritation at the ridiculous rule. :) – Kevin Apr 04 '11 at 15:28
2

see http://meta.english.stackexchange.com/questions/836/exception-to-30-character-minimum-for-answers/837#837 – Marthaª Apr 04 '11 at 16:24
@Martha, I like the link to definition idea. – Kevin Apr 04 '11 at 17:51

score 2 · Answer 5 · edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

2

The best answer has got to be prepone

I would like to prepone the meeting

or

The meeting has been preponed

edited Apr 13 '17 at 12:38

Community

1

answered Apr 04 '11 at 15:09

Ed Guiness

8,923

2

Except that "prepone" is not a real English word, at least not outside India. – Marthaª Apr 04 '11 at 16:22
4

But how words were added to English? isn't Language human invented after all? Just like prepend is not "real" english but one day it will... isn't it? – Eran Medan Apr 05 '11 at 02:19
ELU deals with standard usage at the time of answering. – Edwin Ashworth Nov 01 '23 at 12:01

score 1 · Answer 6 · edited Nov 19 '11 at 15:55

1

I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier.

edited Nov 19 '11 at 15:55

apaderno

59,185

answered Apr 03 '11 at 20:44

RedGrittyBrick

10,147
32
46

score 1 · Answer 7 · answered Mar 12 '18 at 05:03

1

Simple English works fine

just say "I am moving the meeting time from .... to.... or " the meeting time have been change to instead of

hope this helps

answered Mar 12 '18 at 05:03

Abu ra3d

11

score 1 · Answer 8 · answered Mar 12 '18 at 19:08

We typically say "push out" dates to mean a delay in date or time and we "pull in" dates to mean advance or "prepone" a meeting. "prepone" is meaningless in English outside of India."push out" and "pull in" are accepted terms when speaking to schedulers who use any tool that creates Gantt Charts.The tool automatically shows an item being pushed out to the right or pulled in to the left if you change the due dates.

score 0 · Answer 9 · answered Apr 02 '11 at 20:42

0

Someone told me that one can also say

I would like to move the meeting up a little

(but I don't know if it's correct English)

answered Apr 02 '11 at 20:42

Eran Medan

999

I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier. – RedGrittyBrick Apr 03 '11 at 00:03
Thanks, that sounds great, I was just looking for the exact mirror of "I would like/prefer to delay the meeting" but your suggestion sounds better. But please put it as an answer so I can accept it – Eran Medan Apr 03 '11 at 02:24

score 0 · Answer 10 · answered Oct 31 '23 at 21:56

Yes, although, prepone is quite commonly used in India, it is rarely done so outside.

With Indian background, I was taught 'Advance a meeting" i.e. schedule a meeting earlier than the original time/date slot is the correct usage and was discouraged the use of 'prepone'.

However, I think prepone (before/earlier + put = Put it before/earlier) is self explanatory, rhymes with postpone (after + put = put it later) and the words (pre and Post) are well recognised antonym prefixes. It is about time, it (prepone) becomes part of the global English lexicon. Importantly, it is crisp and concise.

Every other iterations/solutions are relatively cumbersome.

How to say: "I will try to move it to an earlier time" or what is the opposite of "delay"

10 Answers10