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The story
On 5ch’s “Nandemo Jikkyo G” (general live-chat) board, a debate broke out over what the Japanese phrase “8-ji juppun mae” (lit. “8:10 before”) actually means. One camp reads it as shortly before 8:10 (around 8:05), while the other reads it as further back than that — i.e., ten minutes before 8:00 (around 7:50). The discussion expanded into whether the split comes down to generational differences in interpretation. Some argued the ambiguous phrasing itself is the problem, while others said it would be simpler to just say “7:50” outright.
What people said
Just say "7:50" or "ten minutes to 8" like a normal person.
Writing out a confusing phrase like that in text is just crazy ("gai," 5ch slang for "nuts").
It'd just be "come before 8," right?
Just saying "7:50" or "8:09" straight up is the smart move.
This exactly.
The correct answer is that the Japanese in the question itself is weird.
Are schools even teaching it differently now?
So wouldn't "before 8:10" logically mean around 8:09?
It's "before 8 (the nice round number)" —
so obviously it means "10 minutes before 8 (the nice round number)."
Not trying to be snarky, genuinely asking.
"Gather by 8:10."
What's "before 8:10" even supposed to mean.
If someone says "8:30 before," I'd assume they mean around 8:25.
That's because it's a clean round number —
the ":30" actually gets counted.
Likewise, I've never seen anyone say "before the time 8:10" either.
Who sets a meeting time like that?
I mean, train schedules probably have times like that.
Is it "8:10 — before that"?
Or "8 o'clock, 10 minutes before"?
Nah, unless you've lost your mind, it means before 8.
In that case you'd just say "meet at 8," wouldn't you.
There's stuff like a train "departing at :17," though.
Background and Key Points of the Debate
The phrase “X o’clock, Y minutes before” is grammatically ambiguous in Japanese: it can be read as pointing to just before the reference point “X o’clock” itself, or as pointing to just before the specific time “X:Y.” The clash in the thread stemmed not only from this structural ambiguity but also from a gap between people who have traditionally judged meaning from intonation and context, and those receiving it as plain text. The claim that “whoever gives an instruction that can be read multiple ways is at fault” and the counterargument that “intonation usually makes it clear” both have their own logic, and the thread never reached a consensus. What’s easy to miss here is that this isn’t simply a generational contest of right versus wrong — it’s a case where an expression that has always relied on the listener’s interpretation only became visible as a problem now that people communicate out loud less often.
*This article is compiled as an excerpt/summary of the 5ch (Nandemo Jikkyo G) thread “[Image] Japanese people can no longer figure out “8:10 before” wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww.”
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