Monday
Monday is the
Names
The names of the day of the week were coined in the Roman era, in Greek and Latin, in the case of Monday as ἡμέρᾱ Σελήνης, diēs Lūnae "day of the Moon".[2]
Many languages use either terms directly derived from these names or loan translations based on them. The English noun Monday derived sometime before 1200 from monedæi, which itself developed from Old English (around 1000) mōnandæg and mōndæg (literally meaning "moon's day"), which has cognates in other Germanic languages, including Old Frisian mōnadeig, Middle Low German and Middle Dutch mānendag, mānendach (modern Dutch Maandag), Old High German mānetag (modern German Montag), and Old Norse mánadagr (Swedish and Norwegian nynorsk måndag, Icelandic mánudagur. Danish and Norwegian bokmål mandag). The Germanic term is a Germanic interpretation of Latin lunae dies ("day of the moon").[3]
In some cases, the "ecclesiastical" names are used, a tradition of numbering the days of the week in order to avoid the pagan connotation of the planetary or deities’ names, and to keep with the biblical name, in which Monday is the "second day" (Hebrew יום שני, Greek Δευτέρα ἡμέρα (Deutéra hēméra), Latin feria secunda, Arabic الأثنين). In many
Arrangement in the week
Historically, the Greco-Roman week began with Sunday (dies solis), and Monday (dies lunae) was the second day of the week.[
The Portuguese and the Greek (Eastern Orthodox Church) also retain the ecclesiastical tradition (Portuguese segunda-feira, Greek Δευτέρα "deutéra" "second"). Vietnamese, whose Latin-based alphabet was originally romanized by Portuguese Jesuit missionaries, adopted this convention and thus also refers to Monday as Second Day (thứ Hai). Likewise, the Modern Hebrew name for Monday is yom-sheni (יום שני).
While in North America, Sunday is the first day of the week, the Geneva-based International Organization for Standardization places Monday as the first day of the week in its ISO 8601 standard. Monday is xīngqīyī (星期一) in Chinese, meaning "day one of the week".
Religious observances
Christianity
The early Christian Didache warned believers not to fast on Mondays to avoid Judaizing (see below), and suggested fasting on Wednesdays instead.
In the
Members of the
Hinduism
In
Islam
In Islam, Mondays are one of the days in a week in which Muslims are encouraged to do voluntary fasting, the other being Thursdays.[8]
There are a number of Hadith which narrated of Muhammad fasting on these days. According to the same Hadith, Muhammad was born on Monday. It is also narrated that he received his first revelation (which would later become the Quran) on Monday.[9]
Judaism
In Judaism, Mondays are considered auspicious days for fasting.
In Judaism, a small portion of the weekly Parashah in Torah is read in public on Monday and Thursday mornings, as a supplement for the Saturday reading). Special penitential prayers are recited on Monday unless there is a special occasion for happiness which cancels them. According to the Mishna and Talmud, these traditions are due to Monday and Thursday being "the market days" when people gathered from the towns to the city.
A tradition of Ashkenazi Jews to voluntarily fast on the first consecutive Monday Thursday and Monday of the Hebrew month is prevalent among the ultra-orthodox.
In Hebrew, Monday is called "Yom Shení", literally meaning "Second Day", following the biblical reference to the sabbath day as the "Seventh-day" and the tradition of that day being on Saturday. It has been established that the phonetic and cultural link between the planet Saturn, Saturday and the Sabbath day is of ancient Mesopotamian origin.[10]
Cultural references
A number of popular songs in Western culture portray Mondays often as days of depression, anxiety, avolition, hysteria, or melancholy (mostly because of its association with the first day of the workweek). Mondays are also portrayed as days of boredom and bad luck, especially for many people in their school years, who have to go back to school every Monday after having no school Saturday and Sunday, which can make them grow a hatred for Mondays. For example, "Monday, Monday" (1966) from the Mamas & the Papas; "Rainy Days and Mondays" (1971) from the Carpenters; "I Don't Like Mondays" (1979) from the Boomtown Rats; Monday, Monday, Monday (2002) from Tegan and Sara; and "Manic Monday" (1986) from the Bangles (written by Prince).
There is a band named the Happy Mondays and an American pop-punk band Hey Monday.
The popular comic strip character Garfield by Jim Davis is well known for his hatred for Mondays, mostly accompanied by the catchphrase “I hate Mondays.”[11]
In the United Kingdom, more people commit suicide in England and Wales on Mondays than other days of the week;[12] more people in the country in general call in sick;[13] and more people worldwide surf the web.[14]
In July 2002, the consulting firm
On October 17, 2022, Guinness World Records announced on Twitter[16] that Monday is the 'Worst Day of the Week', to the dismay of some people.[17][18]
Named days
- Big Monday
- Black Monday
- Blue Monday
- Clean Monday (Ash Monday)
- Cyber Monday
- Easter Monday, also Bright Monday or Wet Monday
- First Monday
- Handsel Monday
- Lundi Gras
- Mad Monday
- Miracle Monday
- Plough Monday
- Shrove Monday
- Wet Monday
- Whit Monday
See also
- Monday Club
- Monday demonstrations
- Monday Night Football
- Monday Night Raw
- WCW Monday Nitro
- Monday Night War
- Saint Monday
- Cleveland Elementary School shooting (San Diego), purportedly carried out due to dislike for Mondays
Notes
- ^ "Monday Meaning". Cambridge Dictionary.
- ^ "monday". Online Etymology Dictionary.
- ^ Barnhart (1995:485).
- ^ Turner (1962). "sōmavāra 13610". A comparative dictionary of the Indo-Aryan languages. London: Oxford University Press. Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. p. 784. Archived from the original on 15 December 2012. Retrieved 21 February 2010.
sōmavāra 13610 sōmavāra masculine 'Monday' inscription [sṓma the plant, vāra 2 meaning day]
- ^ "Guide to Quaker Calendar Names". Iowa Yearly Meeting (Conservative) Religious Society of Friends (Quakers). Retrieved 30 March 2017.
In the 20th Century, many Friends began accepting the use of the common date names, feeling that any pagan meaning has been forgotten. The numerical names continue to be used, however, in many documents and more formal situations."
- ^ "Somvar Vrat".
- ^ "Shravan Somvar Vrat".
- ^ "Fasting Six Days of Shawwal on Mondays and Thursdays - Islam Question & Answer". islamqa.info. Retrieved 11 January 2023.
- ^ Elias, Abu Amina (15 April 2019). "Hadith on Fasting: Recommendation to fast Monday, three days a month". www.abuaminaelias.com. Retrieved 26 November 2023.
- ^ Saturn Jews, Eric Zafran Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes. See also Hebrew University Professor Moshe Idel's book, Saturn Jews, and Shlomo Sela's article Saturn and the Jews (University of Pennsylvania) about trends in late Judaism distancing it from the link between the Sabbath day and Saturn.
- ^ Minow, Neil (3 November 2014). "Jim Davis Explains Why Garfield Loves Lasagna and Hates Mondays and Why People Love Garfield". Retrieved 28 March 2016.
- ^ Carvel, John (26 August 2005). "Monday is most common day for suicide". The Guardian. London.
- ^ "Monday is 'the most popular sick day'". Blog.taragana.com. 10 November 2009. Archived from the original on 27 April 2010. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ "OneStat Website Statistics and website metrics – Press Room". Onestat.com. 9 April 2003. Archived from the original on 30 April 2003. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ Blakely, Beth (17 July 2002). "Monday: PwC Consulting's new name creates controversy, cackles | TechRepublic". Articles.techrepublic.com.com. Retrieved 30 April 2013.
- ^ "Guiness World Records: "we're officially giving monday the record of the worst day of the week."". Twitter. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Guinness World Records declares Monday the worst day of the week. Netizens react". The Indian Express. 18 October 2022. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
- ^ "Guinness World Records Officially Declares Monday 'Worst Day Of The Week'". NDTV.com. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
References
- ISBN 0-06-270084-7