is "next Wednesday" = "Wednesday 7-13 days from now"?

>is "next Wednesday" = "Wednesday 7-13 days from now"?

That's a very good question.

In my experience, the interpretation of "next" when used with days, varies, and I often have to clarify even with friends and members of my family etc whether they mean "next Wednesday" or "this Wednesday" when they are talking about this.

In my opinion (and other native speakers may not agree), if I said it on Wednesday 7th it would be 7 days from now, Wednesday 14th. If I said it on Thursday 8th to about Sunday 11th it would mean Wednesday 14th. By Monday 12th I'd say "this Wednesday" for Wed 14th. By then "next Wednesday" would be Wednesday 21st.

This is discussed at http://forum.wordreference.com/...-monday.37415/

I've also seen this explanation on google:

"For example, on Monday, October 11 and Wednesday, October 13, “next Tuesday” means October 19. Whereas on Monday, October 18, “next Tuesday” means October 26. “This Tuesday” refers to the Tuesday that comes this week, which on Wednesday would refer to yesterday, and on Monday refers to tomorrow."

I would agree with this explanation.

So, in summary, the meaning of "next Wednesday" depends on when you say it, in my opinion.

I hope this hasn't confused you too much!