The event before the latest one is "the last one"

Question

Page 265 of the Collins English Usage reads

If one of a series of events is happening now or has just happened,
you refer to it as the latest one.
You refer to the event
before the latest one as the last one. If no event of the kind you are
talking about has happened recently, you refer to the most recent one
as the last one.
If someone keeps having or
producing a series of things, you refer to the one they have now or
the one they have produced most recently as their latest one.
You refer to the one before their latest
one as their last one. If they have not had or produced one recently,
you refer to their most recent one as their last one.

I do not understand the use of the last for the one before the latest one, and unfortunately no example is given for it.

Roxanne Kat · Answer

It comes down to whether or not one is still producing those series of events. If one were to quit cigarettes, then the last cigarette they smoked, would be the "last one". If that same person were to smoke again, that newest cigarette would become "the latest one" they smoked. It seems that particular usage would only be in effect if a person thought they were going to stop producing or engaging in a series of events they were previously doing, semi regularly.

Answered by Roxanne Kat on February 25, 2021

The event before the latest one is "the last one"

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