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Fri 22 Apr, 2016 03:22 pm
Ok here's my scenario. My buddy and I were about to play a game. We've been playing the game one time each day. My last win was on Tuesday. We tied on Wednesday and he won on Thursday. So today, Friday, as we were about to start, I said "I haven't won in 3 games." I meant that as in, "3 games ago was my last win."
Anyway, he said I was phrasing it wrong and that if I say "I haven't won in 3 games," that means I've lost three in a row. I disagreed, saying that it was basically the same as saying "I haven't won since 3 games ago."
So literally every person I've asked so far has disagreed with me, but I still think I'm right. Here's why. Saying "I haven't won in 3 games" is identical to saying "I haven't eaten in 3 days." And if you were to say that, would you not be saying that Tuesday, 3 days ago was the last time you ate? In the same way, when I say I haven't won in 3 games, I'm saying that the third game ago (just like Tuesday is the third day ago) was the last time I won.
Just like an NFL team that won their first game then lost their second game, as they warmed up for their third game they would say "we haven't won in 2 weeks." Totally true statement. Is it not interchangeable with "we haven't won in 2 games"?
I think there's a case to be made for my way, though I wonder if there are actual grammatical rules that dictate how we talk about the past in such cases. Is it different if you refer to the unit of time (3 days) as opposed to referring to the event (3 games)? I could see that. But I want to know if there is an actual standard for this.
I also think that people almost universally refer to it the way I did in the example but just don't realize it at the time.
@mattywatty01,
Saying that you haven't won in 3 games is the same as saying you lost your last 3 games.
Another example: If you haven't eaten in 3 days is the same as (for the last 3 days you had nothing to eat).
Tuesday you won
Wednesday you didn't win (tie)
Thursday you didn't win (lost)
Friday ("today") game has not started
Three games have happened including Tuesday's game; you won one and didn't win two. You haven't won in two games; you last won three games ago.
I am poor. I ate on Monday; I didn't eat Tuesday and Wednesday. On Thursday morning my mother comes around with a basket. "When did you last eat?" she asks. I truthfully reply that I haven't eaten the last two days. I could equally truthfully say I last ate three days ago. (See the difference of one in the numbers?)
Some dictionaries advise only using 'ago' with expressions of time, but if it is understood that the games are daily, most people would accept 'three games ago'.