Is there a word, phrase or allusion which represents the opposite of a Pyrrhic Victory: a tactical defeat which led to a strategic victory, either accidental or intended? After all, there must be o. Would you think the next 10 days includes today? If not, would there be a clearer way to put it, to refer to today and the following 9 days? Hence, if within two working days were said on a Thursday, it would probably mean before the end of Monday. In conclusion, the expression within the next two days does not have an exact meaning, but most commonly means before the end of the day after tomorrow. If in doubt, check with the person who said it. ProBoards the day after today. and today is on or in the course of this present day. and day is a period of twenty-four hours as a unit of time, reckoned from one midnight to the next, corresponding to a rotation of the earth on its axis. (all quotes taken from the google.com dictionary) What does until mean in the following? You need to deliver this product within 2 days (until August 18, 2011) to meet your deadline and get paid. Does this mean that I have to deliver the produ. Today is Monday. Last week is strictly the period of seven days ending at midnight on Sunday and the last two weeks is strictly the period of fourteen days ending at midnight on Sunday. No one would refer to anything occurring today, yesterday or the day before as taking place last week or in the last two weeks. I wouldn't worry about it. There's also the perennial question of whether the last day ends on the multiple of 24 hours from the time when the deadline was given, if it means midnight of that day, or closing time of that day, or what. And does 7 days mean 7 calendar days, or 7 business days? Etc. Collins concurs: up to, on, or from (a specified time) Most dictionaries give the first two senses as listed by Wikipedia, but Garner [A Dictionary of Modern Legal Usage; Bryan A. Garner] disagrees: But as of now does not mean 'at present'; rather it means 'up to the present time'. [It] is today totally unobjectionable in AmE. I usually say that something happened the other day when it was the day before yesterday, or possibly a few days ago. In fact, I even feel that I may be misleading in describing an event that happened, say, 4 days ago as occurring the other day. My personal limit is a few days, maybe a week if you're stretching it.