Can the word "appointment" refer to a person? [closed]

Question

I was wondering if it's ok to refer to the word "appointment" as if it were a person.

For instance: "I am waiting for my next appointment, who is running late."

If not, what are the alternatives?

Thanks!

Answer 1

I've certainly heard appointment used to refer to a person. For example, compare these two samples I found from common usage on the internet. In the first, the literal appointment (or time window) is running late. In the second, I read it as a person for whom the appointment is for:

• The staff should be updating you periodically if your appointment is running late ... (source)
• Getting a call that an appointment is running late ... If you are called on the cell phone by someone running late (source)

In the second example, I understand appointment as a form of metonymy standing in for the person who made the appointment (Britannica). For instance, with an "appointment ... running late" or an "appointment ... here," the qualities of running late or being here often make sense in reference to a person. Context tends to affirm that reading, with subsequent pronouns agreeing with the person being referred to. The Corpus of Contemporary American English turns up several results for "appointment is here," and a a few suggest this personal, metonymous meaning:

Also, your appointment is here. Oh, right. Uh... yeah, send her in. (The Gifted, 2019)

Your appointment is here. Send him in. (Kyle XY, 2007)

I hate to ruffle your feathers, Mr. Duck, but your 2:00 a.m. appointment is here. A Mr. Ghost of Christmas Present. (A Looney Tunes Christmas, 2006)

Dr. Crane, your appointment is here. ... Uh... please, send her in. (Fraser, 2003)

So, yes, definitely, appointment can refer to a person.

Answer 2

When a question is asked whether a certain word can be used in a certain way, much depends on what criteria are hiding behind can. As TaliesinMerlin has already explained, the word appointment is, in fact, sometimes so used. This usage is, however, limited to certain settings, which are principally those in which the need for brevity overrides other considerations. In the communications between a receptionist and a physician it may thus be an established practice to announce a patient with 'your 3:30 appointment is here' rather than 'Mr. Smith, who has an appointment for 3:30, is here'. Referring to the patient as the appointment is a convenient shorthand, which speeds the things up. Neither the receptionist nor the physician would, however, normally use the word in this way when speaking to the patient; such use is typically reserved for the internal communications among the staff. A patient could, indeed, perceive such use of the word to be mildly disrespectful.

Answer 3

Appointment is quite polysemous. Cambridge Dictionary lists a common concrete sense where the referent is human:

appointment: someone who is chosen for a job:

• Some staff believe that Mr King was an unsuitable appointment.

('Appointee' is a less polysemous synonym here.)

However, this sense clearly does not fit with the example sentence. We would need a definition 'a person having an appointment, ie an arrangement to meet or visit someone at a particular time and place [again CED]', and I'm not sure that this sense can be considered standard, not being able to find it in CED, Lexico, AHD, M-W, Collins or Macmillan. So I'd consider the example unacceptable, or at best non-standard and informal (not being picked up on by any of the dictionaries mentioned).

.................

"I am waiting for my next appointment; we seem to be running late" is perhaps hedged most kindly; "I am waiting for my next appointment; five more minutes and I'm putting it down as a no-show" sounds less forgiving.

Answer 4

This is an example of a kind of metonymy: the substitution of an attribute for the thing meant (e.g., speaking of "the higher-ups" to refer to your boss, your boss's boss, etc.).

It's certainly a well-established rhetorical device, and often used in this particular context (i.e., "appointment" for "person having an appointment to meet me"), but sounds, to my ear, a little dismissive: it reduces the person to something only having significance because of their relationship to me.

Answer 5

I personally (British English), would find it disrespectful if I overheard other clients referred to in this way.

I suggest, "I am waiting for my next client, who is running late."

or (for a medical professional)

"I am waiting for my next patient, who is running late."

or

"I am waiting for my next interviewee, who is running late."

etc.