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 depends what the weather yesterday was. If it was hot, then "milder" means colder. If it was cold, then "milder" means warmer.

Exactly

surely if yesterday was unbearably hot but the temperature has dropped you would say cooler, not colder or milder.

Exactly.... like 'cooler' is kind of opposite of milder.

Hot day yesterday, less hot today = Cooler
Cold day yesterday, less cold today = Milder

Warmer, although I now want a curry

But no-one ever says milder when it is cooler.

He's defo wrong.

The literal meaning of mild/milder is like the opposte of extreme. In the context of weather, at least in Britain, the usual usage is in winter, and means it's less bloody freezing than you'd expect.

I don't know if hotter countries use it differently, though.

Mild for me is definitely about "less extreme'.

It can be the same temperature but no longer blustery, no longer rainy. It can mean a bit warmer too, but mostly I'd use it to refer to atmospheric conditions rather than just temperature.

It's milder here today than the past three days, which have been exceedingly blustery.

I didn't start out using these kind of words to explain my viewpoint but the debate has.... well.... degenerated.

He called me a "fuck nugget" 😆

Both in UK, both British.

I’d saying it in the depths of a freezing winter - I’d say you meant it was warmer today.

if saying in the middle of a heat wave - I’d presume you meant it was cooler…

It's milder here today than the past three days, which have been exceedingly blustery

Your last line sounds like a opening of a brilliant novel set in a Hampshire village in the 1930s.

Originally it was a synonym of gentle, not strict, not severe - as in 'gentle Jesus, meek and mild', or however the hymn goes. Having no history of fierce heat (until very recently) in this country, it means 'gentle' weather, where 'severe' is cold/frosty/whatever. Edit: obviously usage might change now, with climate change

In winter, I’d say it means warmer.

If we were in the middle of an extreme heatwave and you said “it’s milder today” I would assume you meant it was cooler as the heat was not so ferocious.

Entirely depends on the context of the weather on the previous day.

less cold, more comfortable.

I would refer to less blustery weather as calmer.

Milder doesn't mean warm or cold. It means less.
So -

Less cold
Less warm
Less windy
Less wet

Whatever the weather was doing yesterday its doing less of today

I disagree with the majority above.
I'm a man (not sure if that makes a difference for this one!)

If it's been baking outside, milder means cooler

If it's been freezing outside, milder means warmer.

Basically milder means 'less harsh'.

Warmer but maybe it depends what country you’re in.

I loved in central china a few years ago and it was scorching hot I think I would have used mild if it was less muggy and hot.

well I take my smiles away, his choice of words was very offensive. It won’t be about meaning of milder for me anymore and I do tend argue heatedly.
sorry that you are experiencing this.

If you're feeling brave @Limth ask him to define what a fuck nugget is and how you use it.

Depending on the answer, you might want to progress the conversation with an enquiry about how he knows so much about them, and whether he's used one before

At this time of year, milder would suggest the weather today was warmer than it was yesterday. However, if it was July and there was a cooler day in the middle of a heatwave, that could also be described as mild. Its literal meaning is "not severe".

Is it was very cold yesterday, it would mean it is warmer today.

If it was very hot yesterday, it would mean it is cooler today

In weather terms means warmer.
However thinking about it I'd say 'mild curry' which means less hot.

Absolutely definitely it's not as cold/windy/rainy as it was yesterday. In other words the intensity or whatever you're referring to has decreased.

In fairness, much of my life at the moment sounds like a period piece. Not necessarily in a good way. 😉