Please settle an argument between me and DP..... what does 'mild' mean?

[Limth]

You may be preventing a fucking divorce here, so please help by answering this question -

Question: If I said "It's milder today than it was yesterday", would you take that to mean:
A: Its warmer than it was yesterday
B: Its colder than yesterday

Very many thanks!

It would depend on the day before. Very hot tempratures are not mild. Very cold tempratures are not mild. A milder temprature would be closer to a comfortable room temprature

It's a comparative statement so it would depend on what yhe weather was like the day before.

If it was a lovely warm autumn day the day before, milder would mean cooler.

If it was rain and gales the day before, it would mean calmer.

I would tend to use it more in the latter, but the former would be correct too.

Sitting on the fence here, it depends on what the weather was like yesterday....

its a bit warmer or noticebly in varies degrees warmer, consirderbly compared, to yesterday.

I would just assume it's less extremely whatever it was yesterday.

Exactly what I think. If it had been boiling hot yesterday and is less hot today you would just use 'cooler'. Milder means warmer e.g. "That cold wind we had yesterday has dropped now and it feels milder." Less harsh is exactly what 'milder' means IMO.

And MN is?

context is all - milder curry or milder weather - weather it means that it is not as cold today as yesterday

Context is all!

Milder today= yesterday the weather was more extreme than it is today.

This.

DP is obviously thinking of salsa, where milder means cooler as it goes with Cool Doritos

Well no, because 30 degrees isn’t mild. Mild weather isn’t hot, or even particularly warm - it’s warmer than expected. That’s why you hear people talk about mild winters, not mild summers.

Warmer.

There are dictionary entries in this thread. Check them out.

Mild is a word explaining something is not extreme.

A hot curry is very spicy. A mild curry is not spicy.

But that doesn't mean mild is the opposite of hot.

Warmer

with temperature... warmer
with spices...very few
with cheese....not so strong
personal life ... not going there ;)

Yes, 'milder than yesterday' would mean the weather was cold yesterday and now it's a bit warmer. 'Mild' describes weather which, at a normally colder time of year, is a bit warmer and calmer than expected - eg, if I stepped outside in January and it was 12C, I'd say 'Oh, it's quite mild today' whereas if I stepped outside in July and it was 12C, I wouldn't say it was 'mild'.

Warmer ....or, to be pedantic...'less cold'!

My DP has chipped in and pointed out that when "milder" is written on chilli sauce it means that it is less hot.
I've chipped in and pointed out that chillis are not the weather.

Online Cambridge Dictionary says this…..

mild adjective (WEATHER)

Mild* weather is not very cold or not as cold as usual: *
We've had a mild winter this year.

Warmer, obviously.

A -warmer

I think milder depends on the previous weather. Milder compared to yesterday would mean today is warmer, but milder in the summer would be cooler.

I have a similar argument with a friend.

She uses milder in the summer when it’s a cooler day than the previous day, she will say it’s milder today.

Also, in winter when it’s a warmer day than the previous day, again, she will say it’s milder.

Her logic is that milder means not as harsh or severe so technically she’s correct.

I was going to say this! I was trying to think of a mild curry, and how this wouldn’t mean ‘warmer/hotter’ but in a weather sense it means warmer lol

No. I teach English at one of the top universities in the world and mentor senior English lecturers in another world class university. I understand what mild and milder mean. But I did take the comment to be referring to current weather.