I was catching up on the news the other night and noticed that the journalist (who was reporting on the budget), had written a lot of ‘last year the…’, ‘the last budget…’, ‘the last time this happened…’ etc.
Interesting.
When I was studying communication at the Queensland University of Technology in the late nineties, I had a lecturer called Roslyn Petelin who taught us that under no circumstances the word ‘last’ should be used if you meant ‘latest’ or ‘past’ (I will add that I was quite scared of Roslyn so this has stuck with me).
‘Last’ is final. You can eat the last biscuit in the packet, but (unless you are Nostradamus) hopefully 2008 isn’t last year.You can have the latest budget (or past budget), but the last budget indicates there isn’t going to be anymore.
I’ve done some research on the web, and it seems that this rule isn’t as hard and fast as it was during my uni days. But, what do you think? What is your preference?
{ 11 comments… read them below or add one }
Sally, I think this is great food for thought. It’s something I hadn’t considered before, but I will certainly keep in mind when writing about past, last, late, etc…
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It’s one of those things I do without thinking now…but there are no hard and fast rules that I could find. Sometimes it sounds better if you say ‘last’, even if it isn’t technically correct. Food for thought
I’ve not thought about this before but you’re right. Last is certainly final.
Having said that, once something becomes commonly used and recognised I believe the rules should be discarded, or at least treated with caution. To talk about “this past year” when everyone else speaks of “last year” may make the reader stop and think. That’s rarely my aim.
I think it also depends on the context. If you are quite clearly talking about a specific time frame, then go with what makes the most sense.
Thanks for the comment!
Is the difference that “last” year is spoken English and the “previous” year is written? That would be my interpretation of the issue ie formal versus informal. Interesting!
Tim’s last blog post..How to make money out of swine flu
Maybe that’s it?
So you would use ‘past’ for web writing?
That’s a test. I was not quite so conscious of it until your post. My answer is yes and no! It depends on the tone. I would use it if I was being informal – something I don’t do often mind you! I am a bit stuffy!
Tim’s last blog post..How to make money out of swine flu
lol, I’ll keep an eye out for your posts!
Just found the perfect final words from an in-house style guide:
The past year means you are looking back on it; the last year means the final one.
Bravo! I can rest at night!
Tim’s last blog post..In the doldrums
I know! Phew!
Cheers