After much discussion, we have decided to change the definition of 'by' to be EXCLUSIVE of the date referenced - here is what the amended Rules will say:
The term "by" will be considered to be exclusive of the date referenced. E.g. "Will the satellite hit earth by March 25th?" will be settled as a "Yes" if it hits prior to March 25th, and 'No' if it hits on March 25th or later. Where possible, category editors should edit 'by' to 'before', to avoid ambiguity.
This is for a number of reasons, but particularly:
1. For consistency with other date questions, ie 'by August' does not include the entire month of August in the time period, and 'by 2009' does not include all of 2009
2. To align with commonsense - although a spot poll has revealed that not everyone naturally interprets 'by' as exclusive, this appears to be the interpretation for the majority
Where possible, we will endeavour to use the terminology 'on' or 'on or before' to try to avoid any ambiguities in questions.
Similarly, for 'between', which often occurs in the context of mutually exclusive time period outcomes (eg between 1 and 2; between 2 and 3), the first option would be interpreted as 1 to 1.99999, and the second 2 to 2.999999.
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Skipper (Employee)
last replied
on July 08, 2008 17:12
EMPLOYEE