Do not be late

When I was a child my mother was always cautioning me to leave early so that I wouldn't be late. That influenced me so that I was never tardy to school, work, or social events.

She was particularly urgent about being early for a train connection. When she took my sister Ellen and me to the Union Station in Washington to spend our Easter holiday visiting our sister, Kathryn in suburban New York City, we usually had at least a half hour wait on the shiny wooden benches before we were even allowed to go down the stairs to get on the train. Then the train sat there for another half hour before it left.

Since she didn't drive in Washington unless I pleaded with her that I would be late to school if she didn't drive me, we had made the trip to the Union Station by bus, transferring to a street car, and walking a little distance to the doors. Of course she had to take those same transportation means to get back home so supper wouldn't be late for the others still at home.

I was reading a book recently where the characters used the word 'late' to refer to anyone who was dead. The deceased could be very recent or hundreds of years ago. When news of a recent death was told to another, the report was that "he is late." The first time I read such a phrase in the book I puzzled over its meaning.

I was familiar with using the term "late" to refer to someone who had died in the fairly recent past, but not as a synonym for "dead." I began research into the term and found a variety of thoughts.

The Thorndike Barnhart Comprehensive Dictionary defines the word as: happening, coming after the usual time; happening or coming at an advanced time; recent (as in the late war); recently dead or gone out of office; after the usual time (he worked late); recently, but no longer.

Since several of these definitions seem to contradict each other, I continued to search more places. In the section on word usage on the Internet I found that grammarians say that using the word "late" before a person's name means that this person has died, probably in the last two decades. It gave examples like, "A condominium owned by the late film star Jackie Cooper..." but you wouldn't say, "Mt Vernon which was owned by the late President George Washington."

However this same source said that "the late" conveys a note of respect toward someone whose recent death is common knowledge. An example was given. "On Friday his mother Diana, the late Princess of Wales, would have turned 50 had she lived."

Sometimes we are aware of late used as a physical term. Perhaps a woman will be asked if she has been late recently. This is understood easily in certain age groups. Babies' advances toward adulthood are sometimes considered either early or late (such as teething, walking, etc.).

I stayed up late last night trying to think of all the ways the word is used. I knew I would make a column out of it, but didn't want to get it into the paper too late for my usual Friday spot. I knew if I stayed up that late I might sleep late this morning and that would make me late for my deadline if I got a late start on my writing.

My late sister Ellen always liked it if I made my columns about words and their meanings. So I can't be late with my copy. She always got the Nevada Daily Mail late since she lived in Springfield. I'm not sure now how late it might be.

But here's one for you again, Ellen.