How do I say last last last last time?

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Jit833

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How do I say last last last last time?

For example :

1) I have not receive the paycheck four times before the last one/i have not received the last last last last paycheck. ( Getting paid in bi-weekly basis).
2) The last last last last time I saw him was in the Mall.


Hope somebody can teach me how to say it the correct manner.
 

Gillnetter

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How do I say last last last last time?

For example :

1) I have not receive the paycheck four times before the last one/I have not received the last last last last paycheck. ( Getting paid [STRIKE]in[/STRIKE] on a bi-weekly basis).
The easiest way is to reference the date of the missing check - "I have not been paid for the August 17th pay period".
2) The last last last last time I saw him was in the Mall.
"I saw him at the mall on July 14th".


Hope somebody can teach me how to say it the correct manner.
Gil
 

emsr2d2

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How do I say last last last last time?

For example :

1) I have not receive the paycheck four times before the last one/i have not received the last last last last paycheck. ( Getting paid in bi-weekly basis).
2) The last last last last time I saw him was in the Mall.


Hope somebody can teach me how to say it the correct manner.

As Gillnetter said, with the first one, the simplest thing to do is refer to the date you should have received the cheque, or the dates for which you have not been paid.
I have not received my paycheck from August 10th.
I have not been paid for the period July 27th to August 10th.

With the second, you can say "The very last time I saw him was at the Mall". However, if what you are trying to say is that you have seen him four times recently, and you want to explain where you saw him on the first of those four occasions, you'll either have to know the date (I saw him in the mall on the first of July) or simply explain that that wasn't the last time you saw him (I saw him in the mall once but I've seen him in other places three times since then).
 

BobK

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The short answer is you just can't say 'last, last[, last]...'. To emphasize 'last' you can say 'very last' (but it remains the 'same' last, rather some 'ancestor' of last. As an example: 'We bailed you out four years ago, and we've done the same every year since then. This is the very last time. Don't come to me next year. The Bank of Mum and Dad is closed.'

b
 

BobK

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Afterthought: in informal contexts you can say 'last, second[or next to]-last, third-last... etc but the nearest formal equivalent (rarely used, especially in 'the higher degrees' [that is, when there are more and more previous occasions]) goes like this; 'last[/ultimate/final...], penultimate, antepenultimate, pre-antepenultimate...'. (After 'penultimate' it begins to sound ridiculous').

b
 

Barb_D

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I knew I could count on Bob to suggest "pre-antepenultimate"!
 

emsr2d2

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I've always wondered why it's not ante-antepenultimate. As "ante" means before" and so does "pre", why mix them?

We have post-post-script (PPS) at the ends of letter.
 

5jj

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Raymott

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I've always wondered why it's not ante-antepenultimate. As "ante" means before" and so does "pre", why mix them?

We have post-post-script (PPS) at the ends of letter.
Perhaps for the same reason that musicians say hemidemisemiquaver for a 64th note. I'd assume it's clearer and less likely to be misunderstood when spoken.
Why do we say great grandfather instead of grand grandfather?
 

Barb_D

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I learned a new word today. I have enough trouble with 16th notes. I can't imagine a 64th note - it must sound like a trill.
 

5jj

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They look like this:

(from Wikipedia).
 

Barb_D

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But could you PLAY them? (Like I said, I had enough trouble with 16th notes as a bassoonist.)
 

Chicken Sandwich

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It's not that difficult to play 64th notes at slow tempos ;-).
 

BobK

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I've always wondered why it's not ante-antepenultimate. As "ante" means before" and so does "pre", why mix them?

....

I guess whoever thought of it was a fan of what Fowler calls 'elegant variation'.

b
 

emsr2d2

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I can play hemidemisemiquavers on the flute, almost play them on the guitar, but I could never manage them on the piano!
 

JarekSteliga

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Perhaps the meaning of, "I have not received the paycheck four times before the last one/i have not received the last last last last paycheck. ( Getting paid in bi-weekly basis)." could be rendered thus?

"I have not received the paycheck the last time, nor on four consecutive occasions before that"

or

"I have not received four paychecks in a row (including the last one)"
 

probus

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In the huge hit Flanders and Swan revue of the 1950's, At the Drop of a Hat, it was antepenultimate rather than prepenultimate.

"Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud" sung by men in dinner suits (tuxedos) and ladies in long dresses. Amazing and delightful it was.
 

Raymott

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Perhaps the meaning of, "I have not received the paycheck four times before the last one/i have not received the last last last last paycheck. ( Getting paid in bi-weekly basis)." could be rendered thus?

"I have not received the paycheck the last time, nor on four consecutive occasions before that"

or

"I have not received four paychecks in a row (including the last one)"
No, it can't be. Firstly, your index sentence is ambiguous. If you're trying to say you didn't receive the fourth-last paycheck, you are referring to one cheque. If you didn't receive the fourth-last and all subsequent cheques, you're referring to four cheques.
Your second sentence refers to five cheques, and your last one to four.
So, first you have to work out either i) how many cheques you've missed, or ii) since what date you haven't been paid.
Note also that "the one four times before the last one" is the fifth-last one, just as "the one [one time] before the last one" is the second-last one.
 

5jj

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Rather off-topic, but why is a whole note a semi-breve in English?
 

Rover_KE

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In BE, a semibreve is half a breve (here's a breve). In AE they call a breve a double whole note.

Go figure.:-?

Rover
 
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