Wednesday

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The article refers to the weekday. See also Wednesday (disambiguation)

Image:Georg von Rosen - Oden som vandringsman, 1886 (Odin, the Wanderer).jpg

Wednesday is considered either the third or the fourth day of the week, between Tuesday and Thursday. The name comes from the Middle English Wednes dei, which is from Old English Wodnes dæg, meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the 7th century AD. Wodnes dæg is like the Old Norse Othinsdagr ("Odin's day"), which is an early translation of the Latin dies Mercurii ("Mercury's day"). Although Mercury (the messenger of the gods) and Woden (the king of the Germanic gods) are not equivalent in most regards, both gods guided the souls of the dead to the underworld.

When Sunday is taken as the first of the week, the day in the middle of each week is Wednesday. Arising from this, the German name for Wednesday has been Mittwoch (literally: "mid-week") since the 10th Century, having displaced the former name: Wodanstag. The Finnish name is similarly practical: Keskiviikko (literally: "center of the week") as is the Icelandic name: Miðvikudags ("Mid-week day").

According to the Hebrew Bible, Wednesday is the day when the Sun and Moon were created.

Wednesday is also in the middle of the common 5-day working week from Monday through Friday. However, see also Thursday and ISO 8601.

In Romance languages it is derived from the name of the Roman god Mercury: mercredi (French), mercoledì (Italian), miércoles (Spanish), miercuri (Romanian), dimecres (Catalan), dies Mercurii (Latin). Similarly, the Hindi name for Wednesday, Budhvar is derived from the Vedic name for Mercury, Budh.

An English language idiom for Wednesday is "hump day", a reference to making it through to the middle of the work week as getting "over the hump". It is also unofficially (and with some irony) referred to as "the peak of the week".

Quakers traditionally refer to Wednesday as "Fourth Day", eschewing the pagan origin of the name "Wednesday". Most eastern languages also use a name with this meaning, for much the same reason. Faithful Orthodox Christians observe a vegetarian / fish-only fast on Wednesdays (and Fridays) in some countries such as Greece.

[edit] Wednesday in popular culture

In the popular rhyme, "Wednesday's Child is full of woe".

The film Angel Heart includes a scene where Harry Angel refers to Wednesday as "Anything Can Happen Day," in reference to the original Mickey Mouse Club television program.

In the 19th century, Wednesday sometimes comprised of a day off from work for those in northern counties in England, particularly Yorkshire. The English Association Football team, Sheffield Wednesday was formed, according to the day on which they played their matches. The team was officially known as The Wednesday until in 1929, when under the stewardship of manager Bob Brown, the club was renamed to Sheffield Wednesday.

On TV's The Addams Family, Wednesday (Lisa Loring) was the pale-skinned, black-haired daughter of Morticia and Gomez Addams.

In Neil Gaiman's American Gods, the god Odin (Woden being the origin of the word Wednesday) refers to himself as Wednesday.

For residents of New England, Wednesday is "Prince Spaghetti Day", as proclaimed by Lowell, Massachusetts The lead singer of The Murderdolls is called Wednesday

Radio jocks Opie and Anthony have a very successful promotion named "Whip'Em Out Wednesday".

[edit] Astrological Sign

The astrological sign of the planet Mercury represents Wednesday -- Dies Mercurii to the Romans, with similar names in Latin-derived languages, such as the French Mercredi and the Spanish Miércoles. In English, this became "Woden's Day", since the Roman god Mercury was identified with Woden in northern Europe.

[edit] Named days

Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent, occurs forty days before Easter, not counting Sundays.
Spy Wednesday is an old name given to the Wednesday immediately preceding Easter, in allusion to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas Iscariot.