I was aware of this and this stackexchange post discuss the same. There is no prepone in English. Ok, then how do I say Our meeting is preponed in correct way? What is the correct word/phrase for prepone?
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1Great observation — it is strange that this word hasn't spread into common use.– KosmonautCommented Aug 31, 2010 at 18:36
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15Just use "prepone" whenever the rest of the context makes the meaning clear; it's a great word and we can make it eventually catch on. ;-)– ShreevatsaRCommented Aug 31, 2010 at 19:21
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I usually do not use the word outside of India, or if i have colleagues who are not Indian in the meeting. So most of the time i use 'rescheduled or postponed'. But preponed is a good word it should get added into English dictionaries.– user20012Commented Apr 12, 2012 at 9:33
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1Oxford's added prepone: oxforddictionaries.com/definition/english/prepone– mikhailcaziCommented Oct 12, 2013 at 11:29
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For a germanic verb, in Norwegian, we say framskynde – literally forwardhurry.– user2394284Commented Mar 18 at 22:07
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4 Answers
Our meeting has been brought forward.
Our meeting has been rescheduled for an earlier time.
I wouldn't worry too much. English is my first language and I liked the word when I first heard it.
Unlike other apparent malapropisms (or eggcorns) this word is succinct, clear in meaning, and it fills a hole.
Unless I've misunderestimated the question?
answered Aug 31, 2010 at 14:21
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13I'd prefer "rescheduled" over "brought forward". I occasionally find spatial metaphors for time somewhat confusing ("brought forward" = earlier, "going forward" = in future, "advanced" = brought earlier, but "advanced a pawn" = pushed it further away), and I may not be alone. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 19:23
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2@ShreevatsaR - you are definitely not alone. I find "move up a meeting by an hour" very confusing. Perhaps the spatial metaphor is an Americanism? Commented Jan 10, 2011 at 20:10
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4Can we use the phrase "The meeting has been advanced". I heard a person using this instead of "prepone" Commented Sep 28, 2011 at 20:52
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I don't think it's logical to say "brought forward." I always strive to be logical when I speak, for example by saying, "No, it was," when somebody asks me, "Wasn't that fun?" so as a matter of principle, I don't want to say "brought forward." It is more logical to say "brought backward," but, in order to avoid this (avoiding grammatical problems is usually better than solving them), I think Jonik's answer is better: "Our meeting has been moved to an earlier time/[day]."– ahornCommented May 25, 2017 at 18:12
Just on a whim I checked the dictionary, and it turns out that prepone is in the dictionary! I might personally still avoid it just because many people might be confused by it (or at least take a moment to parse it), but technically it is a perfectly cromulent word.
I then checked the OED and found that this word was coined in 1913. Here is the quote, which comes from the New York Times:
For the benefit mainly of the legal profession in this age of hurry and bustle may I be permitted to coin the word ‘prepone’ as a needed rival of that much revered and oft-invoked standby, ‘postpone’.
answered Aug 31, 2010 at 18:31
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3The Corpus of Contemporary American English reports prepone just once, in the sentence In India, people created the word "prepone" as the obvious opposite of postpone. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 19:00
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Yes, I agree with you on that, Jonik. And since it has been floating around in the fringes for about a hundred years and hasn't really taken hold, who knows if it ever will. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 19:23
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No surprise at all. Pre comes from the Latin preposition prae (“before”), as Post comes from Latin post (“after, behind”).– AugustoCommented May 8, 2015 at 18:50
I asked to a friend of mine, born and raised on Long Island (and still living there). She told me she would say a sentence similar to the following one.
Our meeting has been moved up.
answered Aug 31, 2010 at 14:29
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1No; I'd interpret "anticipated" in this context to mean "expected". Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 14:42
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Do you mean that come or take place before means expected? Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 14:48
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1@kiamlaluno: No, I mean that the definition of "anticipated" in your original answer doesn't match my understanding of the word. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 15:37
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@Steve Melnikoff: I got it; the meaning of anticipated in the context is not the one I was giving to the word. I corrected my answer after I asked to a person who speaks American English as first language what she would say (her job was to make meetings; I trust she shows how to say that a meeting has been rescheduled to an earlier time
:-)). Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 18:30 -
2@warren: That's the opposite of my experience. "Moved ahead" also means "moved up", by the way. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 21:56
In addition to what Ed Guiness said,
Our meeting has been moved to this afternoon.
(Assuming, obviously, that the original time was later than this afternoon, e.g. tomorrow morning.)
Or if you want to give emphasis to the "preponing":
Our meeting has been moved to an earlier time/date: [...]
But go ahead and use "prepone" if you have reason to believe that the people you are addressing are familiar with the term (or at least wouldn't object to using it). :-)
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The first sentence doesn't mean that the meeting as scheduled for an earlier time; if the meeting was first scheduled for the morning, saying that it has been moved to this afternoon would mean that the meeting has been postponed. Commented Aug 31, 2010 at 18:32
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Oh, rly? :-P The assumption that the original time was later than "this afteroon" was implicit, but (I thought) obvious enough in this context.– JonikCommented Aug 31, 2010 at 18:52