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Is there a word to describe the new date of a postponement?

I was in conversation with someone and I said to her:

"The show was postponed, and I'm worried I won't be able to make it to the ?reponement."

I looked at her and we both said, "that's not a word".

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You're right: It's not a word. But why not use it anyway? In context it seems clear enough. Most English speakers foul the air with their linguistic brain farts these days. No reason for anyone to object to doing it themselves. Of course, you could be reasonable and say something clear, easy to understand, and idiomatic, eg: "to make it to the rescheduled show". But that's probably boringly simple because it's not clever or only a single word. – Bill Franke Feb 12 at 4:16
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Well then, I demand to make reponement a word, just for this situation! – Jacob Raccuia Feb 12 at 6:38
You're free to do just that. :-) – Bill Franke Feb 12 at 6:49
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Beware, repone is a word! "To repone a defender is to restore him to his position as a litigant when decree in absence has been given against him." gog.is/define+repone vb. (tr) "Scots law to restore (someone) to his or her former status, office, etc; rehabilitate." dictionary.reference.com/browse/repone – Kris Feb 12 at 7:02
Well, Kris is right. It is a word, but it's so specialized a word that it might as well not be. While it's no longer possible to coin it as a neologism, you can certainly coin your new meaning. Whether others will accept it is another story, however. – Bill Franke Feb 12 at 12:14

3 Answers

up vote 0 down vote accepted

"Reschedule" or "rescheduled", possibly?

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up vote 2 down vote

Please consider using rain date, a sibling to rain check.

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up vote 1 down vote

In this case, you are seeking a word that is not needed, because you are not worried about making it to some date, you are worried about making it to the show, now that it has been postponed. So, at least in this particular sentence, trying to use a word that denotes the date itself creates a need where no need exists in the first place.

On the other hand, if you truly want a word to refer to the new date itself, I'm not aware that such a word exists. "New date," "later time," or various versions thereof, work just fine.

As illustration, consider this: "Oh, it's been postponed. What's the new date?" Now try to think of any single word you might substitute for "new date." I can't come up with one (which doesn't mean there isn't one, but if there is one, I think it would be rather obscure).

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