14 years prior
Beneath is a part of an article about Arnold Schwarzenegger. My uncertainty concerns the 14 YEARS PRIOR part of the text:

'The action hero film star is attempting to make a major comeback after the negative publicity he suffered following his separation from longtime wife Maria Shriver in 2011 and his admission that he fathered a child with the couple's housekeeper 14 YEARS PRIOR.'

My question: is my assumption correct, and that PRIOR instead of, say, BEFORE, indicates a certain amount of time that has passed prior to a specific point in the timeline (2011 in that case) which is NOT TODAY?

Question

14 years prior
Beneath is a part of an article about Arnold Schwarzenegger. My uncertainty concerns the 14 YEARS PRIOR part of the text:

'The action hero film star is attempting to make a major comeback after the negative publicity he suffered following his separation from longtime wife Maria Shriver in 2011 and his admission that he fathered a child with the couple's housekeeper 14 YEARS PRIOR.'

My question: is my assumption correct, and that PRIOR instead of, say, BEFORE, indicates a certain amount of time that has passed prior to a specific point in the timeline (2011 in that case) which is NOT TODAY?

Answer

This is an interesting question and I would answer differently as a US native.  This use of "prior" is common in everyday speech, most often heard, as here, in a news story.  "Prior " is just a shortening of "prior to (some other event already mentioned.).

Answer

Yes, your assumption is correct. It happened 14 years before 2011.

Answer

This is an odd use of the word 'prior'.

Prior is an adjective - as in 'prior knowledge', for example - and can be used in phrases such as 'prior to', meaning 'before'.

It is very unusual to see it used in this way as an adverb. I found one dictionary entry with this adverbial use, and it was labelled 'colloquial'.

So, I wouldn't worry about this, if I were you. I wouldn't go so far as to say it is wrong, but let's just call this a 'non-standard' use, and replace it with the adverb 'previously'.

Answer

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