this friday. he's weird for that

We teachers and the director (Aussie) got into a fun spirited debate during lunch this past Wednesday (21st).

He said, "Don't forget, next Friday (23rd) is the start of our games/clubs classes."

Most of us thought he meant Friday 30th (our next Friday). But he meant Friday the 23rd (our this Friday).

Now, we all thought he should have said "This Friday". And we were confused.

So, what do you say? This or next???

Anyways, we all decided from now on the emails will all have the date on them!

English is f'd up on Wednesdays because which is closer, last weekend or next weekend? (There us no this weekend!)  Damn. It's clear on Mondays & Fridays.

"This weekend" refers to the upcoming weekend.  When it's behind you, you say "this past weekend." 

Yeah, our boss uses it the other way. It was Wednesday and he said next weekend meaning the Saturday and Sunday coming up in 3 and 4 days. Weird. I had the same debate with my old boss, who was an Aussie too.

He would refer to next weekend as weekend week. Like he would use, Friday week when I would say a week from Friday.

Again, English is f'd up regarding Wednesdays because THIS weekend is equidistant last and next. On Thursday, next weekend is 9 days away, on Tuesday this weekend is a couple of days past. On Wednesday we have A LIFETIME of misery.

I can't number how many times i have had to clarify on Wednesdays "This coming weekend, the next one" or.. "The following weekend, the one after this".

"This weekend's awesome" ... on Wednesday i have no idea what you mean.

Do you say ‘this weekend’ or ‘next weekend’? It depends on your age

https://yougov.co.uk/topics/society/articles-reports/2021/09/16/do-you-say-weekend-or-next-weekend-it-depends-your

Splitting hairs about trivial details, but language ain't a science.

Or just the next one but who  cares? 
I guess it's important for people obsessed with testing for correct or incorrect with only discrete responses as options. I would that languages, and spoken language in particular,  are about negotiating meaning through interaction between speakers though. 

Or just the next one but who cares?

To English language teachers, yeah it matters. You get 900+ TOEIC score students and send students to the Ivy League by paying attention to the details.

This is about basic communication.

Dude, you seriously think a high TOEIC score is necessarily  an accurate indication of communicative competence? 

It is required for several 1st year or 2nd year university majors in Korea (e.g., engineering in Gwangju); you need a 740 TOEIC school for multiple universities in Paris (mandated). The hagwon I am at has a rep for high TOEIC scores, drawing high level students. I love Wednesdays 8:00-9:30 because they all are full tilt geared to max their test results, so they participate incredibly. It is the jam.

Back in '03 to '05 on Geoje i taught several DSME shipbuilding inspectors TOEIC because if they got a high score they would get a raise in pay, be able to communicate with ship purchasers from Norway, Spain and Nigeria. Most of them succeeded. Surprise, surprise, the regularly late and constant jokster dude did not.

One would normally use tenses or something that would indicate whether they are talking the past or the future. So it's relatively easy to eliminate any confusion.
''How WAS your weekend?''
''What's your PLAN for the weekend?''
''I'LL go camping this weekend''
''HOW ABOUT some sushi this weekend?''

Any of these can be used on any weekday and there shouldn't be any confusion which weekend they refer to.

I have no idea either because that just doesn't make sense, since Wednesday is not part of the weekend. So why would it be referred to using simple present.
It's like asking someone who is at work: ''How's your trip?''

Seriously?

This weekend is lit.
This weekend? Awesome!
This weekend is to die for.
This weekend rocks!
This weekend is great.
This weekend is full of stuff.
This weekend is busy (for me).
This weekend is .... (soooo many responses used by native speakers of English).

How y'all doing this weekend?

How on earth am I supposed to know how I will be feeling three-and-a-half weekends from now? Ridiculous question.