Sometimes you wake up with a nagging need to find the answer to a simple question and today (being Friday) I wanted to know why today is called Friday.
So I did some research and here is some light reading for you.
Why Is Today Called Friday?
Wikipedia is often a ‘go to’ place to find answers and they explain it like this: The name Friday comes from the Old English Frīġedæġ, meaning the “day of Frige”, a result of an old convention associating the Old English goddess Frigg with the Roman goddess Venus, with whom the day is associated in many different cultures.
As with so many names there is a explanation that relates back to the gods.
Kiwis Love Friday’s
In New Zealand Friday is typically the last day of the working week, assuming of course that you are one of those people that work a 5-day working week being Monday to Friday. In this case at about 5.00PM on a Friday your work is finished and you can grab a drink with some friends or workmates. This was once the thing to do but as drink driving has become a more frowned upon thing and better policed, this tradition is not as popular as it once was – or maybe I’m just getting older and are tired at the end of the week.
There are plenty of people who’s work week does not finish on Friday too.
Friday Is Not Always Popular
Friday is considered unlucky in some cultures.
This is particularly so in maritime circles; perhaps the most enduring sailing superstition is that it is unlucky to begin a voyage on a Friday.
There Are Some Friday’s To Remember
These are some references to Friday’s that are more special than others;
Black Friday refers to any one of several historical disasters that happened on Fridays, and, in a general sense, to any Friday the thirteenth. In the United States, Black Friday is also the nickname of the day after Thanksgiving, the first day of the traditional Christmas shopping season and when the big Black Friday Sales are on. The reason given for the Black Friday Sales is that many retailers report some of their highest profits on Black Friday. The black portion of the name, “Black Friday” relates to businesses recording their losses in red ink and gains in black and hence the name “Black Friday” in business means a profitable day. In the USA the Black Friday Sales for 2017 will be on Friday 24th November.
Casual Friday is a kiwi tradition in many workplaces. It is the relaxation of the formal dress code employed by some businesses for that one day of the week and in some will have a coin donation to a selected charity.
An article from Forbes says “Casual Friday” can mean different things to different companies, but no matter what the company, it doesn’t mean you should show up at the office in your gym clothes. While wearing stretchy leggings with a jog bra underneath a T-shirt or bike pants and a tank top might be comfortable, it will never allow you to project a leadership image.
The biggest mistake I see for casual Fridays (and during the warmer summer months) is employees wearing attire that is too casual for the company or industry. Just because it’s summer, it doesn’t mean it’s OK to wear shorts and flip flops to work.
Good Friday is the Friday before Easter in the Christian calendar. It commemorates the crucifixion of Jesus so it is hard to understand why a crucifixion is called “good” and in researching I thought this video explains it best;
POETS Day is a term used by workers in the United Kingdom, Australia yes New Zealand too. to refer to Friday which is the last day of the work week. It is an acronym for “piss off early, tomorrow’s Saturday”. For anyone that does not know what “piss off” means, it is described by the online slang dictionary as an insultingly emphatic version of “go away”, slightly milder than “fuck off” but in my concept “piss off early” really just means head home from work early.
My name is Stuart Wills and you are reading this on my blog.
This post forms part of what I call my “interesting facts about New Zealand” which is something that I hope gets shared about to help educate and entertain people.
The post It’s Friday But Why – Why Is Today Called Friday? appeared first on Stuart Wills Blog.
