@shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics It's not so bizarre, no? "The day before yesterday" in Spanish is "anteayer" and in Basque "herenegun", "after tomorrow" in Basque is "etzi"... (in fact in Basque we even have "two days after tomorrow", "etzidamu")...

@eleder @bibliolater @linguistics In German, we have "übermorgen" (literally the same as overmorrow (or to be precise "overtomorrow"?)) and "vorgestern", meaning pre-yesterday 🤔

But having a word for two days before/after sounds a bit special, yet I'm not a linguist or the like. Doesn't Basque have a word for "two days before yesterday"?

@shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics I didn't know, but indeed it has!!! "Laurdenegun".
The etymology of "herenegun" was clear, "third-day" (I guess counting today as "first"). And in fact, it exists (though I never heard it) "laurdenegun", "fourth-day", with that meaning.

@eleder @bibliolater @linguistics Fascinating indeed. Language never stops to amaze!

@eleder @shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics
In Dutch "the day before yesterday" = "eergisteren" ("gisteren" = "yesterday"). "The day after tomorrow" is "overmorgen ("morgen" = "tomorrow").
Basque "etzidamu" is very usefull. Sometimes Dutch say "overovermorgen" for the same meaning, but a bit jockinly. It's not in the Grote Van Dale, but you can find it on https://www.woorden.org/woord/overovermorgen and on some other sites.
Even "eereergisteren" (the day before the day before) is somtimes found on the internet.

@PeterMotte @eleder @bibliolater @linguistics So, overmorgen and overovermorgen is essentially the same in German, while "eergistern" sounds like a mix between English ("ere" from "ereyesterday") and German ("gestern", meaning "yesterday"). Interesting, how these languages are related.

@shaedrich @eleder @bibliolater @linguistics It sounds like a mix, but it's certainly not a mix. English is a Germanic language, as are German and Dutch. It's an original word they have in common, but which changed during centaries in usage and pronounciation.

@PeterMotte @eleder @bibliolater @linguistics Sure, English originally came from Old German, actually Old Saxon, through the Angels, Saxons and Jutes, had Roman influences, then the French and the Vikings came, making the English language so diverse

@shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics "ereyesterday"? That's funny, because in Dutch it's "eergisteren", so we have the same "eer" / "ere" there. In Dutch you have "eer" also in "eerder", which means "earlier". And now I come to think of it: the "ear" in "earlier" might also be related to the "ere" of "ereyesterday".

@PeterMotte @bibliolater @linguistics That might be due to the great vowel shift, though, that's a totally wild guess on my part

@shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics It's a possibility.

@shaedrich @bibliolater @linguistics Overmorrow I can work with. Ereyesterday seems a bit much and I can see why it is now in the past.