Noun Help

[narainhere]

Hey all,
I want to know if there is any noun for 'Second recent'.Picture this, I am discussing about the four planes arrived at 0800,0900,1000,1100 hours today.Assume that it is 1130 hours now.

I want tell my friend that the plane arrived at 1100 hours is a Boeing Airplane which I would convey as "The plane which recently arrived is a Boeing airplane"

And then I would like to add "The place which arrived at 1000 hours is an Airbus airplane". How would I convey this? "The plane which arrived second recently is a Airbus airplane" is very basic and I am not sure whether it is right or wrong.Please help out!

[Anglika]

If you do not want to state the time, then the Airbus arrived earlier than the Boeing, or arrived an hour before the Boeing.

There is no single word that will express what you want to say.

[kiranlegend]

How is this one word usage for the same?: The Last but one airplane<<, which arrived before boeing>> It sounds awkward, isn't it?

I am an English student:)

[narainhere]

Thanks for the replies, I was looking for something like 'penultimate' which we use for day or some entity which is distinguishable or whose boundary is defined like

'Penultimate day'
'Penultimate match'
'Penultimate enemy'

Since time being boundary less and non distinguishable I am wondering!

[Raymott]

Originally Posted by kiranlegend

How is this one word usage for the same?: The Last but one airplane<<, which arrived before boeing>> It sounds awkward, isn't it?

I am an English student:)

"The plane before last" is how I would say it.

[kiranlegend]

yeah mine was terribly bad:)

[BobK]

If you've already mentioned the Boeing, the Airbus is 'the one that arrived before that.' Otherwise you'd have to call the Airbus 'the one that arrived before the most recent one'. You could probably make yourself understood if you said 'the second most recent' - but that doesn't sound quite right to me.

b

[BobK]

Originally Posted by narainhere

Thanks for the replies, I was looking for something like 'penultimate' which we use for day or some entity which is distinguishable or whose boundary is defined like

'Penultimate day'
'Penultimate match'
'Penultimate enemy' (Only if there was a series of enemies.)

Since time being boundary less and non distinguishable I am wondering!

"Penultimate" is a fairly formal term. And whereas days and matches form a series, planes don't (at least, not necessarily). If the context made a series of planes implicit - say you're in the Arrivals lounge - you could say "the penultimate plane" (if you were comfortable with the word 'penultimate' - in the wrong milieu you might get a ribald reception along the lines of 'Ooh aren't we posh? No more buttered scones for me, mater'!) If the context doesn't imply a series, introduce a noun that makes it explicit, such as 'the penultimate arrival'.

I prefer Raymott's version though, or 'the last plane but one' - close to kiranlegend's, but a more natural-sounding word order.

b