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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)

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3  
In India, you can prepone meetings. Outside of India, that would probably get you some strange looks. – mmyers Nov 16 '10 at 20:11
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I think the most common phrase is "move the meeting up", right? – Kosmonaut Nov 16 '10 at 20:14

7 Answers

up vote 10 down vote accepted

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

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+1, since this would have been my answer too! – thesunneversets Nov 19 '10 at 4:20
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 3 '11 at 2:30
@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 Rowe Apr 3 '11 at 7:24
up vote 3 down vote

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.

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up vote 2 down vote

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.

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1  
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
up vote 1 down vote

expedite. And several other characters so my answere meets the arbitrary 30 character minimum

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you could just give an example sentence. – Matt Эллен Apr 4 '11 at 15:23
Yes, but that wouldn't express my irritation at the ridiculous rule. :) – Kevin Apr 4 '11 at 15:28
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@Martha, I like the link to definition idea. – Kevin Apr 4 '11 at 17:51
up vote 1 down vote

The best answer has got to be prepone

I would like to prepone the meeting

or

The meeting has been preponed

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Except that "prepone" is not a real English word, at least not outside India. – Marthaª Apr 4 '11 at 16:22
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 5 '11 at 2:19
up vote 0 down vote

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)

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I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier. – RedGrittyBrick Apr 3 '11 at 0:03
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 3 '11 at 2:24
up vote 0 down vote

I would prefer to have the meeting a little earlier.

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