4 ms·

Surely everyone would follow the correct rule instead and have the week start on Mondays. :)

by majewsky 3y ago

stavros 3y ago
The Greek word for Monday literally means "second day". Tuesday is "third day", up to Thursday, "fifth day".
- noahjk 3y ago
  While I subscribe to the Monday week start, that’s a really interesting fact that I never would have expected
- dbcurtis 3y ago
  Thor, God of Thunder, would like to have a word with you.
  - stavros 3y ago
    Does he speak Greek? Because, if not, I imagine so would the moon, Tiu, Wodan, Freya, etc.
    - djbusby 3y ago
      I thought he was from up north, where Greek is ... less likely.
      - stavros 3y ago
        I would think the same, making him fairly irrelevant as far as the fact I mentioned is concerned.
- sk0g 3y ago
  Similar for Georgian, Monday through to Thursday are named roughly "two-Sabbath" to "five-Sabbath", with Saturday being Sabbath of course. Not sure why those numbers, but I assumed it was because it was the number of days past Saturday? Friday and Sunday get different names, unrelated to Sabbath as far as I can tell -- paraskevi and kvira.
  - stavros 3y ago
    Ahh Paraskevi is the Greek name as well! It means "preparation" or "manufacturing".
    - sk0g 3y ago
      Oh nice, the more you know! Kvira probably refers to the same word meaning "week", but seems like there's theories it could derive from Greek mythology as well. Lots of influence from Greek culture in Georgia for sure. For a fun fact, the Georgian for "Greece" is saberdzneti -- the land of the wise. Berdzeni itself means wise (as well as Greek), but I'm not certain if it's derived from an alternative historical name for the Greek.
- MRtecno98 3y ago
  Doesn't it mean "Moon's day"? From a quick google it seems it derives from the greek "Selēnēs hēmera", where "Selēnēs" is the gooddess of the moon and "Hēmera" is the personification of day(all of this is straight from google[1] btw, i know nothing about ethymology, only thing that sparked my interest is that in most romance languages the word for monday has a similar root to "moon") [1]: https://www.etymonline.com/word/Monday https://www.etymonline.com/word/Monday Edit: also wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday
  - jhbadger 3y ago
    He said the Greek (modern, not ancient) name -- Δευτέρα (Deftéra), which has nothing to do with moons, but means "second day". Obviously this only makes sense in a Christian context which starts the week on Sunday. Monday is "first day" (星期一) in Chinese, for example.
    - owl57 3y ago
      Christian context is a bit fuzzy here. On one hand, Monday is called the same in Hebrew (יום שני [yom sheni] = "second day"). On the other hand, Russian "вторник" [vtornik] ≈ "second" is Tuesday, same in other Slavic languages.
      - dragonwriter 3y ago
        Judaism and Christianity both treat Sunday as the first day of the week, so that it is the same in Hebrew is unsurprising.
        deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
- mock-possum 3y ago
  Wait, Wednesday and Thursday are “fourth day” and “fifth day” - not “W(O)din’s day” and “Thor’s day?”
  - dragonwriter 3y ago
    No, the English names don't derive from the Greek names.
  - rawgabbit 3y ago
    Sun Moon Tyr Woden Thor Frig and Saturn’s day https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/viking-age-people/the-names-of-the-weekdays https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/v...
- MisterSandman 3y ago
  Yeah, and? When did word etymology become a criteria on what we choose to do with words?
- kelnos 3y ago
  That doesn't really prove anything; I could invent a language where my word for Wednesday meant "first day". But that doesn't make it so. The language merely would follow my convention, not describe something inherently true about the numbering. (FWIW, I agree that Monday is the second day, but mainly just because that's what I was raised to believe. Plus if Sunday is the end of the week, that means Saturday isn't a weekend anymore, which is nonsense.)
  - mewpmewp2 3y ago
    In my language, Monday, literally is "first day", Tuesday, is "second day". Also Wednesday and Thursday. It goes different from Friday.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
alex_young 3y ago
Portuguese: Segunda-feira (2) = Monday Terça-feira (3) = Tuesday Quarta-feira (4) = Wednesday Quinta-feira (5) = Thursday Sexta-feira (6) = Friday Sábado = Saturday Domingo = Sunday
kelnos 3y ago
I don't think I'll ever get this. Sunday and Saturday are at the (opposite) ends of the week. If Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the last, Saturday is no longer a weekend. It's a... near-the-weekend.
- mewpmewp2 3y ago
  Not sure I follow? I've always considered both Saturday and Sunday to be the weekend. When someone asks me what I'm doing on the weekend, I'll think they are asking about Saturday and Sunday and in addition eve of Friday.
- twixfel 3y ago
  Saturday and Sunday are both the weekend.
  - vincnetas 3y ago
    So if they are weekEND so why some countries start week from Sunday (looking at you US of A) :)

Surely everyone would follow the correct rule instead and have the week start on Mondays. :)

stavros 3y ago

The Greek word for Monday literally means "second day". Tuesday is "third day", up to Thursday, "fifth day".

noahjk 3y ago
While I subscribe to the Monday week start, that’s a really interesting fact that I never would have expected
dbcurtis 3y ago
Thor, God of Thunder, would like to have a word with you.
- stavros 3y ago
  Does he speak Greek? Because, if not, I imagine so would the moon, Tiu, Wodan, Freya, etc.
  - djbusby 3y ago
    I thought he was from up north, where Greek is ... less likely.
    - stavros 3y ago
      I would think the same, making him fairly irrelevant as far as the fact I mentioned is concerned.
sk0g 3y ago
Similar for Georgian, Monday through to Thursday are named roughly "two-Sabbath" to "five-Sabbath", with Saturday being Sabbath of course. Not sure why those numbers, but I assumed it was because it was the number of days past Saturday? Friday and Sunday get different names, unrelated to Sabbath as far as I can tell -- paraskevi and kvira.
- stavros 3y ago
  Ahh Paraskevi is the Greek name as well! It means "preparation" or "manufacturing".
  - sk0g 3y ago
    Oh nice, the more you know! Kvira probably refers to the same word meaning "week", but seems like there's theories it could derive from Greek mythology as well. Lots of influence from Greek culture in Georgia for sure. For a fun fact, the Georgian for "Greece" is saberdzneti -- the land of the wise. Berdzeni itself means wise (as well as Greek), but I'm not certain if it's derived from an alternative historical name for the Greek.
MRtecno98 3y ago
Doesn't it mean "Moon's day"? From a quick google it seems it derives from the greek "Selēnēs hēmera", where "Selēnēs" is the gooddess of the moon and "Hēmera" is the personification of day(all of this is straight from google[1] btw, i know nothing about ethymology, only thing that sparked my interest is that in most romance languages the word for monday has a similar root to "moon") [1]: https://www.etymonline.com/word/Monday https://www.etymonline.com/word/Monday Edit: also wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monday
- jhbadger 3y ago
  He said the Greek (modern, not ancient) name -- Δευτέρα (Deftéra), which has nothing to do with moons, but means "second day". Obviously this only makes sense in a Christian context which starts the week on Sunday. Monday is "first day" (星期一) in Chinese, for example.
  - owl57 3y ago
    Christian context is a bit fuzzy here. On one hand, Monday is called the same in Hebrew (יום שני [yom sheni] = "second day"). On the other hand, Russian "вторник" [vtornik] ≈ "second" is Tuesday, same in other Slavic languages.
    - dragonwriter 3y ago
      Judaism and Christianity both treat Sunday as the first day of the week, so that it is the same in Hebrew is unsurprising.
      - deleted 3y ago
        [deleted]
mock-possum 3y ago
Wait, Wednesday and Thursday are “fourth day” and “fifth day” - not “W(O)din’s day” and “Thor’s day?”
- dragonwriter 3y ago
  No, the English names don't derive from the Greek names.
- rawgabbit 3y ago
  Sun Moon Tyr Woden Thor Frig and Saturn’s day https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/viking-age-people/the-names-of-the-weekdays https://www.vikingeskibsmuseet.dk/en/professions/education/v...
MisterSandman 3y ago
Yeah, and? When did word etymology become a criteria on what we choose to do with words?
kelnos 3y ago
That doesn't really prove anything; I could invent a language where my word for Wednesday meant "first day". But that doesn't make it so. The language merely would follow my convention, not describe something inherently true about the numbering. (FWIW, I agree that Monday is the second day, but mainly just because that's what I was raised to believe. Plus if Sunday is the end of the week, that means Saturday isn't a weekend anymore, which is nonsense.)
- mewpmewp2 3y ago
  In my language, Monday, literally is "first day", Tuesday, is "second day". Also Wednesday and Thursday. It goes different from Friday.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

alex_young 3y ago

Portuguese: Segunda-feira (2) = Monday Terça-feira (3) = Tuesday Quarta-feira (4) = Wednesday Quinta-feira (5) = Thursday Sexta-feira (6) = Friday Sábado = Saturday Domingo = Sunday

kelnos 3y ago

I don't think I'll ever get this. Sunday and Saturday are at the (opposite) ends of the week. If Monday is the first day of the week and Sunday is the last, Saturday is no longer a weekend. It's a... near-the-weekend.

mewpmewp2 3y ago
Not sure I follow? I've always considered both Saturday and Sunday to be the weekend. When someone asks me what I'm doing on the weekend, I'll think they are asking about Saturday and Sunday and in addition eve of Friday.
twixfel 3y ago
Saturday and Sunday are both the weekend.
- vincnetas 3y ago
  So if they are weekEND so why some countries start week from Sunday (looking at you US of A) :)