# It's overdue



## Oleg68

For example: it's high time you stopped that nonsense.

If I say "it's overdue you stopped that nonsense", will be it the same?


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## Keith Bradford

No, you can't use _overdue_ in this way.  It's an adjective, so you need a noun/pronoun for *it* to refer to.  E.g:

"Take this book back to the library, it's overdue."
"She was expecting her baby a week ago, it's very overdue."


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## Oleg68

it's high time and it's long overdue are not the same?


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## TheRealMcCoy

Oleg68 said:


> it's high time and it's long overdue are not the same?



What makes you think they are?


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## Oleg68

My dictionary


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## PaulQ

No, your use, syntax and construction are wrong:

"Your stopping that nonsense is overdue." -> grammatically OK but not very idiomatic. "You are overdue to stop that nonsense." -> grammatically better but not 100% idiomatic.

Your use of "overdue" is not really idiomatic. *High time *and *overdue *are not perfect synonyms. You need to find another example.

Dictionaries do not usually give true synonyms, they give meanings.


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## Oleg68

It's high time you fell in love with somebody
It's long overdue you fell in love with somebody

What do you think about it?


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## PaulQ

The overdue version is incorrect. "Your falling in love with someone is long overdue." is passable but not wonderful.

And you have added "long" which makes a semantic difference.


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## Oleg68

But the sense is the same or not?


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## pob14

"Long overdue" means it was "high time" a long time ago.


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## Oleg68

Thank you, Keith Bradford, The RealMcCoy, PaulQ, pob14!


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## Keith Bradford

I think that, in practice, the difference is this:

*It's high time* introduces a clause with *that*: _It's high time that <some future thing happened>._
*It's long overdue* is a simple description: _<Noun or noun-clause> is long overdue.
_
The meanings are very similar, but the constructions can't be interchanged.


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## Oleg68

I think that we are talking about the same but can't understand each other.


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## Myridon

It's high time... It would be really good if you could do it now (and perhaps it's been that way for sometime).
It's long overdue... It really should have been done a long time ago.
It's high time that you returned that book to the library.  You finished reading it some time ago so you could have returned it, but it's not overdue yet.
That library book is overdue.  You owe a fine.
That library book is long overdue. The fine is so large now that you should have bought the book instead.


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## Oleg68

In my dictionary It's high time = It really should have been done a long time ago.


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## Myridon

Oleg68 said:


> In my dictionary It's high time = It really should have been done a long time ago.


That's a very informal wording for a dictionary. Does it really say that?


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## Oleg68

Myridon said:


> That's a very informal wording for a dictionary. Does it really say that?



Really. 
It's high time we left = we should have been gone a long time ago.


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## PaulQ

Is that Longman's Dictionary?

It's high time we left = The period in which we should leave is coming to an end and we should leave in the very near future

..............................................[.......................the time we should leave........................................].............................
.......................................................................................................................................................our departure is overdue
................................................................................................................................it is high time


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## Oleg68

In every dictionary I see the same translation.

How we understand it, first, "it is high time", then "the time we should leave"


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## Myridon

........[] We can't leave before this time
.....[.. the time we could leave without being late....]
..............[.......the time we should leave.........] we don't really want to be early
.........................................[.... high time ..]  we've put it off longer than we should, but if we hurry we can still make it
.............................................................[........ the party.......................]
........................................................[.......our departure is overdue....]  we will be late
..........................................................................................[........ long overdue .......] the party may be over by the time we get there.


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## PaulQ

OED:





> b. high time: *fully at or (now usually) nearly past* the time when something should happen or be done. Freq. with _that _or _to do something_.
> 
> 1910   Outlook 25 June 365/2   In so far as that policy finds expression in the common and statutory law of to-day, it is high time that the law was
> 2007   News Rev. Messenger (Austral.) (Nexis) 31 Oct. 28   It is high time licensing hours were trimmed back to no later than 10pm each night.


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## Oleg68

I am confused. One more example.

It's high time Sam got a real job = Sam should have been find some good job many years ago.
They translate like this.


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## PaulQ

Oleg68 said:


> Sam should have been find some good job many years ago.


That is filled with mistakes!  Don't trust that dictionary!

Sam should have found good job many years ago. *He is approaching an age* when nobody will give him a good job - it is high time he got a job."


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## Oleg68

Paul, there is nothing we can do
I've found the site grammaring.com 

IT'S (HIGH) TIME | Grammaring - A guide to English grammar


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## PaulQ

Oleg68 said:


> Paul, there is nothing we can do
> I've found the site grammaring.com
> 
> IT'S (HIGH) TIME | Grammaring - A guide to English grammar


We can do quite a lot. We can ignore errors. I have given you the quote from the OED: if there were a final authority on the English language, it would be the OED. The site is wrong. *Nobody *here agrees with the idea of "high time" meaning "after the time that". Case closed.


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## Oleg68

Do you mean the site grammaring is wrong? I see it for the first time.


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## PaulQ

Please look at my post #21.

OED:





> 16. a. *high *(adj) Of a time of day or season (esp. summer): well advanced; fully come, complete.
> 
> 1847   D. M. Mulock in Chambers's Edinb. Jrnl. 17 Apr. 246/1   It was high summer too on the earth.
> 2010   J. Powell Breaking of Eggs (2011) ix. 161   We went there often, piling on to Uncle Szmul's cart and riding out into the country on those blissful days of high summer.


In both cases, it is still summer...


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## Myridon

PaulQ said:


> Sam should have found good job many years ago. *He is approaching an age* when nobody will give him a good job - it is high time he got a job."


Also:
Sam lost his job three months ago. He had enough money in the bank for five months, but that will be used up soon.  It's high time he got a job.  (He's not out of money yet, but that time is coming soon. He should not wait until he is out of money.)


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## Oleg68

The matter is that the word "high" they understand as "long ago".


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## PaulQ

I am not sure what you mean - can you explain?


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## Oleg68

They translate correctly the phrase "it's time", but the word "high" in "it's high time" they translate in Russian as "long ago".

How do you like this site? (yourdictionary.com)

High time dictionary definition | high time defined


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## PaulQ

They do not say "long ago" they say "long-awaited", and "high" does not mean either "long ago" or "long-awaited"

I am not going to comment on the site. We have told you the answer. If you do not like it, it is a matter for yourself.


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## Oleg68

I translate a Russian word that means "long ago"


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## Myridon

"Long" is a very relative term.  I'm starving. I ordered a sandwich a long time ago.  I'm talking about minutes, not years or even hours.
You are confusing the single example (which is in years) with the definition which is all relative.  Also, don't ignore the other two parts of the definition just because the single example is of the first part.
If you are a may fly that only lives for one day, it's high time for you to mate.


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## Oleg68

When someone waits until you are 30 and your parents kick you out of their basement before you finally get around to getting a job
we say in Russian, "you should have been found some job a long time ago".


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## Packard

Oleg68 said:


> They translate correctly the phrase "it's time", but the word "high" in "it's high time" they translate in Russian as "long ago".
> 
> How do you like this site? (yourdictionary.com)
> 
> High time dictionary definition | high time defined



I would define "high time" as "almost too late".

If you want to use "overdue" you would have to change the structure of the sentence.  Here is one possibility.

_You stopped all that nonsense; that change in your behavior was well overdue._


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## Sparky Malarky

Another point is that if something is *overdue* this literally means that it was *due* at a certain time, or on a certain date.  That time is past.  

*High time* for something to happen is more subjective.  

You should return those library books.  They are due next week.
You really should return those books.  They are due in a few days.
It's high time you returned those books!  They are due tomorrow.
You have to return those books.  They are overdue.


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## Myridon

Oleg68 said:


> When someone waits until you are 30 and your parents kick you out of their basement before you finally get around to getting a job
> we say in Russian, "you should have been found some job a long time ago".


The example is not the definition. The example is not the definition.  The example is not the definition.
Understand how the example shows one part of the definition.  Do not force the definition to be your interpretation of the example.


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## Oleg68

Myridon, I wanted understand the sense. I gave the example. That's exactly what I meant.


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## Linkway

I interpret "high time" (eg "It's high time you got married") as meaning "now or very soon would be a good time".

Also note that "overdue" is OFTEN (not always) used in relation to a fairly specific date or time:

eg His library books are *overdue*. They should have been returned two weeks ago.  It's *high time (now)* that he returned them.

"High time" is invariably used in relation to a NON-specific point in time (other than an explicit or implied "now").

eg  It's *high time* this government cut taxes and reduced corruption.


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## Oleg68

Thank you for the explanation, Linkway!


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