Wednesday

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The god Woden, after whom 'Wednesday' was named. "Odin, the Wanderer" 1886 by Georg von Rosen (1843-1923)

Wednesday is considered either the third or the fourth day of the week, between Tuesday and Thursday. The name comes from the Old English Wodnesdæg meaning the day of the Germanic god Woden who was a god of the Anglo-Saxons in England until about the 7th C. AD.

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 too is of a fairly functional kind: Keskiviikko (literally: "center of the week").

According to the 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 Spanish, miércoles is used to mean Wednesday. It originates from the roman god Mercury, which was believed to be the fastest of all roman gods as if to get over this day quickly.

An English language idiom for Wednesday is "hump day", a reference to making it through 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.

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.
The term "hump day" was first used by the media on a Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station in 1965. It was thought to have been originated by an employee of Pako Corporation.

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.

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.

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. It is the last day of Lent, because the Triduum and Sundays are not counted as days of Lent.