until的法律意义Hi，Couldanyoneconfirmthemeaningofuntilinafinancialdocument？specificallyEarlyrepaymentchargesapplytotheloanuntil31/10/2008“Dotheyapplyon31/10/2008asthedictionarydefinitioninthiscontextappearstobebefore“inwhichcasemyunderstandingwouldbetheydonotapplyon31/10/2008.ThanksYaryl================Hi，yary，thanksforjoiningus.WelcometoEnglishForums.Inthiscontext，itmeansaspecialruleappliesfromthebeginningofthedeal，andcontinuestoapplyupthroughthespecifieddate.Afterthatdate，therulenolongerapplies.Theruleisthatifyoudecidetopaytheloanoffearlierthanoriginallyplanned，there’sanextracharge.It’slikeanearlyterminationofcontractchargeonyourcellphone.Ifyou’reaskingwhetheryouhavetopaythespecialchargeifyoupaytheloanoffexactlyon31/10/2008，that’sagreyarea.（Thatwouldbekindacold.）Readthefineprint.Forexample，ifIdon’tpaymycarinsurancepremiumby12：01AMonthedayit’sdue，Ihavenoinsurance.Theydon’tgivemealldaytopay.Youmightfindwordingsuchasuptoandincluding31/10/2008.“Bestwishes，-A.================HiAvangi，Thanksfortheresponse.Isearchedhighandlowthroughoutthedocumentationandtheonlyreferencetoatimeperiodisuntil31/10/08“Althoughadayhereortheremaynotmatterinthesecircumstancesthereisamaterialeffect.Iftheloancanbepaidoffwithoutpenaltyon31/10/08thereisnoadditionalcostbutifitispaidoffon01/11/08therearechargesforanothercompletemonth.Thereforetheprecisedefinition（legal）ofthetermuntil“becomesimportanttotheoperationoftheloan.Ithought，particularly，infinancialcontracts，clearlanguagewasaprettybasicrequirementyetIappeartohaveencounteredacommonlyusedtermthatmayhaveameaningopentointerpretation.HoweverIwouldhavethoughtanyinterpretationwouldbeguidedbydictionarydefinitionoratleastthecommonunderstandingoftheusewithintheEnglishlanguageandit’sherethatmyunderstandingisuntil“meansbefore“Anyfurtherthoughtandviewswelcome，particularlyfromanyonewithalegalbackground！ThanksYaryl.================Sorryaboutthat.Ifwegobythedictionarydefinition，whenthecalendarshiftsfrom30“to31“（thestrokeofmidnight）youmayexecuteyourearlyrepayment“withoutfearofbeingchargedthepenaltyfee.ButOctober31beingthelastdayofthemonth，you’vegottawonderifthat’swhattheyreallymean.Andattorneysdon’trespectdictionaries.Theyrespectonlyprecedent.“Onceajudgerulesonacase，thatwillbethelaw，untilsomeonetakestheissuetoahighercourtandwins.Thatis，ifalitigantcanquotecaselaw（apreviouscaseinwhichajudgeruledthattheclienthadtopaythepenaltyfeeonthe31st，orsomethingwiththesameprinciple）thejudgeisobligedtohonorthatpreviousdecision.Hisrulingmaythenbeappealedtoahighercourt.（Atleast，that’sthewayIunderstandit.Otheropinionsareencouraged.）Sometimeseventhedictionaryleavesyouscratchingyourhead.ThemoviewillbeblackedoutinBostonuntil31/10/2008.ThemoviecannotbeshowninBostonuntil31/10/2008.Thatis，theambiguitymayrestwiththeverb，notwiththepreposition.Sometimesthrough31/10/2008“canclearitup.
