[General] 'three months FROM now'

[Olympian]

Hello,

I heard a TV reporter say 'three months from now' when referring to something that I think should have been 'for the last three months'. Is it correct to say something like this 'he has not smoked three months from now'? I thought 'from now' is only for referring to the future.

I realize that when someone is upset or nervous they may not be speaking quite correctly as mentioned here.

Thank you.

 

[Barb_D]

I"m not confident that you are hearing it correctly.
He has not smoked for three months now = for the last three months.

What you have written would not make sense. Television reporters are not as subject to nervousness as most mortals. I'm certainly not saying that they don't make mistakes, but this is an odd one.

 

[Olympian]

@Barb_D, thanks for your response. You may be surprised what you see/hear on Indian TV and read in Indian newspapers, or for that matter on Indian Yahoo.

 

[5jj]

You may be surprised what you see/hear on Indian TV and read in Indian newspapers, or for that matter on Indian Yahoo.

I frequently am!

However, I accept that Indian English is as valid a dialect as BrE, AmE, or any other dialect. What we cannot do is believe that forms acceptable in one dialect must be acceptable in others.

Whether or not it is acceptable in Indian English, 'he has not smoked three months from now' is not acceptable in BrE.

 

[Olympian]

I frequently am!

However, I accept that Indian English is as valid a dialect as BrE, AmE, or any other dialect. What we cannot do is believe that forms acceptable in one dialect must be acceptable in others.

Whether or not it is acceptable in Indian English, 'he has not smoked three months from now' is not acceptable in BrE.

@fivejedjon, thanks for your response and clarification regarding BrE.

A few weeks ago, I was surprised to see a headline on Yahoo India:
Ramdev does Hazare :shock:

Ramdev and Hazare are names of people protesting against corruption and black money in India. Mr Hazare sat for a fast-until-death (a popular means / form of protest since British times). The government agreed to his and other people's demands and they broke the fast. Later Mr Ramdev also was going to do a similar fast. Hence the headline. But I think the author did not know the difference between:
Ramdev does Hazare
and
Ramdev does a Hazare
;-)

 

[5jj]

Ramdev does Hazare :shock:

Ramdev and Hazare are names of people protesting against corruption and black money in India.

The mind boggles.;-)