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AIBU?

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Original poster

How long is a mo?

57 replies

ClumpingBambooIsALie · 07/02/2022 21:56

Supremely trivial:

This evening, DP made us both a hot drink, sat down, and I joined him on the sofa. He finished the last thirty seconds of the YouTube video he'd been watching, and he said "Right, I'm going to bed in a mo." When I acted surprised, because he'd just made us a hot drink that I'd expect us to take at least ten minutes to drink, he replied, "I said in a mo, not right now!" It's context-dependent, obviously, but to me, "in a mo" usually means "extremely shortly", like maybe less than a minute or two. To him it seems to imply a longer period of time, which I'd probably describe as "soon" or "in a little while" rather than "in a mo".

YABU: Of course "I'm going to bed in a mo" means "I'm going to bed in a quarter of an hour or so when I've finished my drink"
YANBU: Agreed, "I'm going to bed in a mo" means I'm probably going to get up from the sofa in less than a couple of minutes.

OP posts:
labyrinthlaziness · 07/02/2022 22:24

@Honeyroar

It’s short for moment, but when I was growing up “in a mo” was often said by someone to just delay a bit, it didn’t mean anything!
Same here, it is a very vague way of saying 'not now, but not much later either' IMO
JayAlfredPrufrock · 07/02/2022 22:24

My brother, who lives in Africa, says ‘just now’ which irrationally gives me the rage.

milkyaqua · 07/02/2022 22:25

How long is two tiks?

Two seconds. Two ticks of the clock.

Clammyclam · 07/02/2022 22:25

@HelloDulling

How long is two tiks?
2 seconds? Two ticks of the second hand maybe?
labyrinthlaziness · 07/02/2022 22:25

@HelloDulling

How long is two tiks?
Oh 'two ticks' is almost immediately as it means two seconds presumably?
ImInStealthMode · 07/02/2022 22:26

@HelloDulling

How long is two tiks?
A tick is a second isn't it? As in tick-tock. So 2 seconds.

But if someone told me they'd do something in 2 ticks I'd expect any time in the next half hour.

This thread reminds of of the South African theory of time. Right now, now, now now and just now all suggest different lengths of time, but equally could all mean never.

How long is a mo?
Timeyime · 07/02/2022 22:26

Couple of hours.

FleeceNavidadFromTheSheep · 07/02/2022 22:27

Assuming he did actually go to bed, how long did he stay with you? Therein lies your answer.

DorothyZbornakIsAQueen · 07/02/2022 22:29

A minute - anything up to 5 minutes

A mo - anything up to 10 minutes

You are wrong!

A 'mo', is definitely shorter than a minute.

Original poster
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 07/02/2022 22:29

@FleeceNavidadFromTheSheep

Assuming he did actually go to bed, how long did he stay with you? Therein lies your answer.
The mo ended up being about 20–25m.
OP posts:
ThatsANameChanger · 07/02/2022 22:30

I married a southern African chap, and honestly I cannot tell you the number of frustrations before we got "now", "just now", and "now now" cleared up. That and he operates on a totally different time scale anyway.

But, like you, I'd have thought a mo was a few minutes tops. Like 5 max.

But I'm glad I read this thread, for the educational input of ODFOx!

ThatsANameChanger · 07/02/2022 22:31

Others got there before me with the SA now confusions! It took me a mo to write my post ;)

spiderlight · 07/02/2022 22:37

Be glad you're not in Wales. I don't think I will ever make my poor English DH understand that 'now' means two completely different things, and that's before you consider 'now in a minute' (which, at least in my family, does not mean quite the same as 'in a minute now').

longwayoff · 07/02/2022 22:45

Settle this for me please. When would you expect your tea to arrive if DH said 'I'll do it presently'? Immediately? Or in half an hour or so?

FatOaf · 07/02/2022 22:46

longer than a sec; a bit longer than a jiffy; shorter than a while.

FatOaf · 07/02/2022 22:47

When would you expect your tea to arrive if DH said 'I'll do it presently'?

You appear to be married to Jacob Rees-Mogg, so you'll get your tea when Nanny is good and ready.

Original poster
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 07/02/2022 22:48

I've no experience with "presently" in my day-to-day life so don't really have any expectations about what it tends to mean in practice — nobody I know uses it in everyday speech so I'd have to go off literature and dictionary definitions, which aren't really the same thing. I probably wouldn't expect immediately, though.

OP posts:
Original poster
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 07/02/2022 22:49

Or what FatOaf said Grin

OP posts:
Original poster
ClumpingBambooIsALie · 07/02/2022 22:51

Also, you've got to factor in that a good cup of tea takes at least three minutes to brew, plus a couple of minutes for boiling the kettle. And warming the pot, if you're being fancy.

OP posts:
Kite22 · 07/02/2022 22:59

Of course if we are taking this internationally, "Just now, in a minute" is a perfectly reasonable measure of time in South Wales.... Wink

TigerLilyTail · 08/02/2022 00:53

I have ADHD so my mo's can last weeks!

Jacopo · 08/02/2022 01:04

This thread has made me very happy, contemplating
a) what a keeper your DP is, making you a hot drink to enjoy together on your sofa
b) learning that a moment is an actual measurement of time - how can I not have known this?!
c) wondering whether two shakes of a lamb’s tail is longer or shorter than two ticks.

Viviennemary · 08/02/2022 01:06

In a sec is the same. It means shortly not in a literal second.

Viviennemary · 08/02/2022 01:08

A jiffy is shorter than a mo Id say. Its getting complicated.

dudsville · 08/02/2022 01:29

A moment is an undefined amount of time. I take it to mean "the next thing I do after this", so it would easily fit with the timeline of a cup of tea.