Brewer's: Friday

is the Mahometan Sabbath. It was the day on which Adam was created and our Lord was crucified. The Sabeans consecrate it to Venus or Astarte. (See Frea.)

Friday is Frig-daeg = dies Verneris, called in French Vendredi, which means the same thing. It was regarded by the Scandinavians as the luckiest day of the week. (See below, Friday, Unlucky.

Friday.
Fairies and all the tribes of elves of every description, according to mediæval romance, are converted into hideous animals on Friday, and remain so till Monday. (See the romance of Guerino Meschino, and others.)

Black Friday.
(See Black.) Long Friday, Good Friday, long being a synonym of great. Thus Mrs. Quickly says, “'Tis a long loan for a poor lone woman to bear” (2 Henry IV. ii. 1), and the Scotch proverb, “Between you and the long day” —i.e. the great or judgment day. Good Friday in Danish is Langfiedag, and in Swedish Längfredag.
Friday

A man Friday. A faithful and submissive attendant, ready to turn his hand to anything.

My man Friday.
The young savage found by Robinson Crusoe on a Friday, and kept as his servant and companion on the desert island.
Source: Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, E. Cobham Brewer, 1894
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

Related Content