Let us pay attention to the terms back and forward in the quote below.
On the 4th of June they had the drill for independence day. But if you go back further you'd find that around mid-May, they were nowhere near planning the event. But if you move forward (to around the end of June) you should find yourself in shock with the level they've reached.
Observe that I refer to back as going further into the past and forward, into the future.
Strangely though, I found some colleagues (teachers in one of the scools I used to work with), using the words differently like this:
This is still September. So let's have our prize-giving around mid-November. On the other hand, let's move it forward to around October. But then again we don't want the sports event causing any trouble so let's move it backward to early December.
I find this very difficult to accept. They even argue that the 10th of a month is after the 5th and thus it's behind.
Thus my question: Is this how the terms are used in most countries or is this unacceptable?