Talk:Jam tomorrow
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not quite right[edit]
This page isn't quite right, at least not for UK English speakers. The words "jam tomorrow" are most commonly used in the phrase "bread today or jam tomorrow", meaning a choice between:
(a) consumption now, or
(b) deferral of consumption, leading to a greater level of consumption later (by, say, investing).
In that usage, there is no implication that option (b) is unrealistic. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 86.143.73.127 (talk) 08:06, 25 October 2013 (UTC)
Origin of the quote[edit]
I've just been listening to 'Alice through the Looking Glass', which this reminded me of our Latin master's explanation, when I was in school, that this quote was a joke related to the rules for the Latin word 'iam' (pronounced 'jam'). http://www.textkit.com/greek-latin-forum/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=10382 gives the explanation, which ought to be included in the article:
So recently I read Through the Looking Glass (yes, this is Latin related!), and in the book, the White Queen says: "The rule is, jam to-morrow and jam yesterday -- but never jam to-day." According to Annotated Alice: ...Carroll plays on the Latin word iam (i and j are interchangeable in classical Latin), which means "now." The word iam is used in the past and future tenses, but in the present tense the word for "now" is nunc. I received more letters about this than about any other oversight, mostly from Latin teachers. They tell me that the Queen's remark is often used in class as a mnemonic for recalling the proper usage of the word.
--Brian Josephson (talk) 17:38, 30 November 2013 (UTC)