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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

AIBU to ask what you’d interpret by the phrase “Close of Play”

330 replies

CyanSnake · 18/03/2021 19:24

Hello all.

WIBU to ask you to help settle a light hearted debate I had with a colleague over lunch today?

I’d sent an email out asking for a task to be completed “by close of play Friday”. Now what I meant by this, was that I’m going to work on the project over the weekend; so I need other staff to do their part before 5pm on Friday.

If I knew I wasn’t going to look at it until Monday I’d have said “The deadline is first thing Monday” or “Can I have it by 9am Monday.”

Now my colleague said that she would interpret the phrase “by close of play Friday” to mean “I want to work on it first thing Monday” and that if I directly set a deadline of Monday morning it sounds like I’m directing staff to work over the weekend.

I asked what she would do if she needed something to work on over the weekend and she said she’d ask for it by Friday lunch and chase over the afternoon if it wasn’t done.

So how would you take the phrase?

YANBU - “Close of play Friday” means “By end of business hours on Friday”

YABU - “Close of play Friday” means “On my desk before I start work on Monday”

OP posts:
DynamoKev · 19/03/2021 15:03

@PlingPlingPling

Arguably it's just as disrespectful to dish out vague deadlines like "Close of Play" rather than be precise and professional. Close of Play while a bit cringe is pretty standard office speak. Smile
i.e. bollockspeak.
Whythesadface · 19/03/2021 15:05

@DGRossetti

Or maybe they didn't understand it was need for Sat am and instruction need to be given more clearly. And maybe it's best not to assume people are stupid, lazy and disrespectful - until you learn to ask and be clear about what you want.

Arguably it's just as disrespectful to dish out vague deadlines like "Close of Play" rather than be precise and professional.

Well I would argue that.

Trying to pretend Saturday is Friday 😂.

I'd judge you as your boss for doing that.

DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:05

@PlingPlingPling

Arguably it's just as disrespectful to dish out vague deadlines like "Close of Play" rather than be precise and professional. Close of Play while a bit cringe is pretty standard office speak. Smile
Oh I know. But really should only be used for more "light touch" deadlines. You know. The ones where it's not really a big deal if it's 5pm Friday, or 6am Monday.

Because if it is such a big deal, then for fucks sake make it crystal clear at the top of the page.

It's a well known shit manager trick to be all casual over deadlines upfront, and then get really arsey over it when people are "late".

Whythesadface · 19/03/2021 15:15

So if in doubt ask.
Hey OP. Close of play?
Friday 5pm or Monday morning?

DynamoKev · 19/03/2021 15:16

@PlingPlingPling

The sender of the request is z poor communicator and should state clearly when and what time the deadline is eg fri 1/1/11 @ 17.00

If I wrote that, my colleagues would think I've lost the plot Hmm Grin

Close of play is colloquial for the end of the working day, which in the UK is 5pm. Nothing ambitious about but. It's ignorant to not know that if you work in an office.

What utter rot.
DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:17

I'd judge you as your boss for doing that.

Only God can judge.

ElderMillennial · 19/03/2021 15:17

I would think close of play is end of office hours but depending on what it is I might think you were going to need the info by Monday morning SO if you wanted it by 5pm Friday you should have said that.

Sometimes people ask for money for birthday / wedding / baby collections by e.g. 5pm on Friday "so that I can shop at the weekend"...

DynamoKev · 19/03/2021 15:17

@Whythesadface

So if in doubt ask. Hey OP. Close of play? Friday 5pm or Monday morning?
Or the originator could just be clear in the first place.
DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:18

Close of play is colloquial for the end of the working day, which in the UK is 5pm.

Not at some offices in the Midlands, where it's 4:30 Mon-Thu and 1:00pm Friday.

As I discovered when I moved here.

Whythesadface · 19/03/2021 15:23

Close of play . I am sure anything sent on Friday, the day requested would be acceptable. The Friday night be the hint.

BillMasen · 19/03/2021 15:28

@cluecu

I would assume you would mean end of day Friday. However, I would add that you planned to work on it over the weekend so that no-one could claim to have misunderstood and to help you out.
This. I’d check as I use weekends to do stuff so there is a risk we’d both think the weekend was absolute do our bit.
BillMasen · 19/03/2021 15:29

Close of play I’d assume by the time I finish, so if I work after 5 that’d be ok

LolaSmiles · 19/03/2021 15:29

Close of play is the end of the working day and has been everywhere I've worked.

At the moment with people WFH I wouldn't be bothered if someone emailed in at 8pm because I usually set deadlines that give me time to catch up any missing material, and it's more difficult at the moment.

Choosing to move a Friday deadline to Monday takes the mick though.

GreyhoundG1rl · 19/03/2021 15:30

@DGRossetti

I'd judge you as your boss for doing that.

Only God can judge.

Don't kid yourself.
Gwenhwyfar · 19/03/2021 15:30

It means by EOB Friday. However, people shouldn't work weekends imo, so having it for Monday morning would be the same thing so I also agree with your colleague.

It's like if you have a deadline of midnight for sending something in. 8am the next day should be just as good as nobody should be sitting there at midnight waiting for it.

GreyhoundG1rl · 19/03/2021 15:31

@DGRossetti

Close of play is colloquial for the end of the working day, which in the UK is 5pm.

Not at some offices in the Midlands, where it's 4:30 Mon-Thu and 1:00pm Friday.

As I discovered when I moved here.

But people will be perfectly well aware what it means in their own working environment, the fact that others will be different is in no way relevant.
Gwenhwyfar · 19/03/2021 15:33

"Not at some offices in the Midlands, where it's 4:30 Mon-Thu and 1:00pm Friday.

As I discovered when I moved here."

Many places close early on Friday, but 5pm would still be understood I think.

Whythesadface · 19/03/2021 15:39

Fancy missing out on a contract, by thinking "end of play Friday", working day 17.30 finish to give people chance , means it's acceptable to hand it in at 9.00am Monday.
If in doubt CHECK.
But 95% seem to think it's when the working finishes and you leave.

DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:40

But people will be perfectly well aware what it means in their own working environment, the fact that others will be different is in no way relevant.

This has pretty much become a circular argument. It's been shown that "Close of Play" isn't a definitive absolute point in time, but a relative reference entirely dependent on context. So peoples differing contexts are all producing differing responses. Absent a clearly agreed mutual definition, the next best thing is to return to the person making that request for clarification. If you are really lucky the tone or phrasing of their response might be enough for another AIBU I asked my colleague to clarify "close of play" and they judged me for it. AIBU ?

Failing that, a (non divine) judgement call might be to assume that the use of a relaxed colloquialism infers a lack of urgency which might affect the delivery when compared to other ongoing pieces of work in the persons brief.

Don't come to me for a quick answer on that.

DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:44

@Gwenhwyfar

"Not at some offices in the Midlands, where it's 4:30 Mon-Thu and 1:00pm Friday.

As I discovered when I moved here."

Many places close early on Friday, but 5pm would still be understood I think.

Age has taught be to very very wary of common assumptions. That and dealing with a lot of different countries. And teenagers.
LolaSmiles · 19/03/2021 15:47

I suppose though the colloquialism comes into play when everyone knows their own workplace.

In my experience the people who would use 'end of play Friday' to mean 'hand in on Monday' would be exactly the type of colleagues who would decide that the person making the request couldn't actually mean 5pm Friday because it's the weekend tomorrow so they will just hand in on Monday.

It's one reason I started doing 9am deadlines in a previous job as it gave me the rest of the day to remind people that they've now missed a deadline, which impacts on my workload and other people's.

DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 15:55

I suppose though the colloquialism comes into play when everyone knows their own workplace.

For some reason I've just remembered the courtroom scene in "A Few Good Men" where the defence lawyer asks a soldier on the stand to find the reference to punishment beatings. The soldier looks confused and says "It doesn't say, sir", to which the lawyer slimes back to his seat, smug expression in full glow.

Tom Cruise then takes over and asks the soldier on the stand to show him the bits of the manual that explain where the canteen is. Or where the bathrooms are. Or how you line up in the morning.

Of course they aren't in the manual either ...

Gwenhwyfar · 19/03/2021 15:57

"Age has taught be to very very wary of common assumptions. That and dealing with a lot of different countries. And teenagers."

What have teenagers got to do with anything? Does OP work with teenagers?

NeverDropYourMoonCup · 19/03/2021 15:59

@DGRossetti

I'd judge you as your boss for doing that.

Only God can judge.

God doesn't complete your appraisal forms.
DGRossetti · 19/03/2021 16:01

@Gwenhwyfar

"Age has taught be to very very wary of common assumptions. That and dealing with a lot of different countries. And teenagers."

What have teenagers got to do with anything? Does OP work with teenagers?

No, but speaking as a parent, I've also discovered how "back for teatime" can be interpreted as "Midnight". Apparently I should have known "everyone says that" ....
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