The sure sign of a lawyer who was soundly, but not sufficiently, beaten as a clerk.

I shan't give it to you William until the following day.

The “next following” day speaks to that nervousness that the day you have in mind — the one immediately following the one at hand — might not be the one your adversary does. For a day following this one might, conceivably, fall some indeterminate time — four days, eight days, who knows, even three hundred and fifty-seven days? — in the future. all of these are days following this one; if you mean one cannot be sure it will be the one tomorrow.

This is the kind of argument you'd expect from that posh ginger girl on Just William, and it pains me to think an adult learned in the ways of the law could be vexed by it.

“Violet-Elizabeth, can I have my rubber back please?”
“I shan’t.”
“But you said you would.”
“I most thertainly did not.”
“You said you’d give it to me on the following day.” “Tho I did. But not this following day. Another one. In Theptember, I shouldn't be thurprised.”


Plain English Anatomy™ Noun | Verb | Adjective | Adverb | Preposition | Conjunction | Latin | Germany | Flannel | Legal triplicate | Nominalisation | Murder your darlings