Presently - means "now" or "later" lets have a vote.
How about a vote on above?
If anyone says it means both then please justify.
"At present" means "now"
23 Answers
Hi guys here is the Result
22 responses (not all votes/answers)
Chaparrito both USA
Cheeseis yumm both ?
Samdie both USA
Webdunce both x2 ?
Marianne now USA
DJ Huero now USA
Irev0474 both USA
Shiela –foste later UK
Kittybrougha both USA
Moe ? Canada
Izanoni both( I think) USA
Lorenzo later/both USA
Heidita was now (now both) Spain
Lopek both USA
Sofiasonia both Canada
EJclaire both ?
My vote later UK
The only 2 UK votes went for "later" ( I would never use presently to mean now)
Only 2 votes went for "now" both from the USA
Moe didn't state a preference.
If cheeseisyumm, webdunce and Ejclaire are from the USA then all the "both" votes are from the USA.
Heidita learnt a new meaning for "presently". So it was not a complete waste of time. (But nearly)
I can't remember who posted the 48%-52% statistic but this about what we got here.
Chau for now Ian
A surprising amount of controversy. In my experience/reading "presently" is used with two different meanings. When used with a verb in the present tense (especially, the present progressive, e.g. "He is presently working as ...") it simply means "now" and is exactly equivalent to "currently" (which, given the origin of each word, is not surprising). When used with a future verb (e.g. "I'll be there presently.") the situation is a bit more complex. In Shakespeare's day, this meant "right away" or "momentarily" but in modern English it's meaning is often extended to "soon" / "shortly". If one meant "in ten minutes, or so", I think Shakespeare would have said "I'll be there anon."
Of course, Shakespeare is long dead and language, for better or worse, moves on.
Here's what I found at princeton.edu for the word presently:
S: (adv) soon, shortly, presently, before long (in the near future) "the doctor will soon be here"; "the book will appear shortly"; "she will arrive presently"; "we should have news before long"
S: (adv) presently, currently (at this time or period; now) "he is presently our ambassador to the United Nations"; "currently they live in Connecticut"
From this I would say it means both now and the near future.
I say that presently means now.
I vote for both. I usually use it to mean currently, but I think it can be used to mean "any minute now".
Here's another expert's opinion:
In my opinion, using "presently" to mean "now" is unnecessary ("now" is a perfectly good word). And using "presently" in the accepted sense of "soon" sounds stiff and pretentious. ("Soon" is another perfectly good word.) Since there's an ambiguity to the word anyway, I tend not to use it at all.
This is copied from Webster's:
pres-ent-ly (prez'uhnt lee) adv.
1. in a little while; soon.
2. at the present time; now.
3. Archaic. immediately.
[1350-1400]
Usage. The meaning " now " of PRESENTLY dates back
to the 15th century; it is currently in standard
use in all varieties of speech and writing. The
sense " soon " arose gradually during the 16th
century. Strangely, it is the older sense that
usage guides sometimes object to. The two senses
are rarely if ever confused. PRESENTLY meaning "
now " is most often used with the present tense
(The professor is presently on sabbatical leave)
and PRESENTLY meaning " soon " often with the
future tense (The supervisor will be back
presently).
If I didn't see that, I'd be sure that "presently" means "now". Presently, I have to vote for both.
My first assumption for the use of the word would be that it is meaning "now." For instance, "I am presently at home." However, based on the context it is used it could, of course, also mean "soon." For instance, "I will be home presently." I do not feel that either use of the word is wrong, although its use as "now" is far more common to me than "soon."
FAscinating, I always thought presently was a synomym for now.
Omg...I just found this on thesaurus.com:
Definition: in a short while
Synonyms: anon, before long, before you know it, by and by, directly, down the line, down the pike, down the road, immediately, in a minute, in a moment, in a short time, now, nowadays, pretty soon, shortly, soon, today, without delay
Notes: momentarily means 'in a moment'; presently means 'soon' or 'shortly'
presently means 'soon, shortly, before long' while at present means 'at the time of speaking'
Antonyms: eventually, later, never
How many native English speakers who think that presently means now studied English in the Commonwealth? This may be an Americanism, since the English classes I had where this usage was considered incorrect were in Australia. On the other hand, I seem to recall a tirade by a Trevanian character on exactly this subject.
I will not go so far as to say that this is an incorrect usage, but what I will say is that using it in this manner seems to be (or probably at least originated in) a use of hyperbole.
For example, if someone asks, "Have you started typing your reports yet," you could reply "No, but I will start them right now/right away/presently." This is not to say that you will actually do them "at this very moment," but is a way to state (using hyperbole) that you will get to them very soon (as soon as possible).
All in all, I think that the argument or attempt at a consensus is a bit meaningless as word usage varies not only from country to country but from region to region within a given country. It would be like arguing about the word "mande" trying to say that when someone from Mexico uses this to say "Excuse me," that person is using incorrect Spanish.
As I have stated before, language is not static and it is not owned by a single group or authority. It is owned and shaped by the people that use it, and I would assert that if millions of people use the word in this way then it makes no sense to try to cross it out of the language. In the end, it is simply a stylistic difference.
I have always used it to mean both...
He will be here presently. (He's not here yet, but he will be shortly).
Presently, there are 3 options. (There are currently 3 options).
I am here reminded of the exclamation of Lewis Carroll's red queen in his book Alice in Wonderland. To the red queen, Carroll attributes the expression:
"Words mean exactly what I want them to mean".
Do we have some red queen imitators in the house today?
Ian, this is one of the fun threads.
My Grandparents, who were educated in England before the turn of the last century (and yes, I am talking about c1900 here!) always used "presently" to refer to the near future. They would say "I'll do that presently", meaning that it would be the next thing they did.
They would have said that Obama was "currently" the president of the USA.
Having said that, modern American English is another language entirely from 19th century English English!
I also vote for "presently" meaning now in everyday American English usage. I am satisfied that the dictionary definition of "presently" indicates dual usage, but I believe the most common usage and understanding of the term "presently" refers to something occurring right now. I think "at present" is probably more grammatically correct, but few people would say, "At present, I am working on..." instead of "I am presently working on...".
This is a good example of how I hope to learn Spanish. While I don't want to be grammatically incorrect, I also don't want to sound like a Shakespearean actor in the 21st century world. If there are two competing definitions for a word, or ways to express something, I would prefer to learn the most socially appropriate way so that I can blend in better with native speakers.
