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I know that the English will say "Wednesday week" to mean a week from Wednesday. Is there a name for this sort of construction?

Also, I have a friend from India who will say "today morning". Is this a similar English (as in people from England) idiom? Or is it an Indian-English idiom? Or just an individual idiosyncrasy?

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    I've never heard either of these phrases before but I suspect the first is done with artistic license and is not normally spoken. The second is also either idiomatic or an individual idiosyncrasy as all people I know would say "this morning".
    – FrustratedWithFormsDesigner
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 17:46
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    It's not artistic license. "Thursday week" appears in "Peter Pan": “But, my dear madam, it is ten days till thursday week; so that by telling you what's what, we can save you ten days of unhappiness.” “Yes, but at what a cost!
    – Paul Reiners
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 17:49
  • Wednesday Week was also the title of two different songs by The Undertones and Elvis Costello.
    – user31448
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 10:28
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    In the UK, 'Wednesday week' is very common. The second one is not common in the UK.
    – Rory Alsop
    Commented Nov 27, 2012 at 10:37

3 Answers 3

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"Wednesday week" is normal British English, and you have interpreted the meaning correctly. There's also "fortnight" used in exactly the same way, although possibly more rarely ("Wednesday fortnight" is two weeks from Wednesday).

I'm not aware of a particular name for this idiom.

British English does not use "today morning". It would be "this morning". I've never heard "today morning," so I'd have to guess it was either Indian-English or a personal idiosyncrasy.

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    Interesting. "Wednesday week" is fairly common in the southern U.S. I didn't realize that it was used in BE.
    – Kevin
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 18:01
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    I live in the southeastern US and have never heard that expression in my life. Strange.
    – Charles W
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 19:32
  • Is it just "Wednesday week"? Can we say "Monday week" as well?
    – gonnastop
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 20:40
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    @gonnastop: Of course. Any day of the week.
    – Andrew Leach ♦
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 20:42
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    In BrE, the paraphrase of "Wednesday week" would be "a week on Wednesday". "A week from Wednesday" does not occur in BrE. And "today morning" is indeed common in Indian English.
    – Colin Fine
    Commented May 16, 2012 at 23:14
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I've heard Wednesday week and Wednesday fortnight used, mainly by English people. English speakers in Wales would be more likely to reverse this to 'a week Wednesday' or 'a fortnight Wednesday'. For example 'we will meet again a fortnight Wednesday'.

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    This isn't limited to Wales. In England we'd also say 'a week Wednesday' rather than 'Wednesday week'.
    – Dan W
    Commented Feb 15, 2018 at 17:55
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Wednesday week is common in the South East US as well. It can apply to any day of the week. Monday week is common for the following Monday.

I have several friends from India who will also use the "today's morning". I believe it is an Indian-English idiom.

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