Black Friday
English
editEtymology
editFrom black (“bad; ill-omened; marked by disaster”). Friday is an ill-omened day according to ancient superstition, so a Friday that was darkened by another ill-omen (such as being the 13th) or an actual disaster became known as "Black Friday". Philadelphia police applied the term to the day after Thanksgiving because the large number of people out shopping made traffic chaotic. Later, PR efforts purposely invented the incorrect, more positive "etymology" (which is a very popular urban legend and false etymology that was even in Wiktionary from 2008 to 2015) that the name was given because this day is supposedly the first day of the year on which retailers typically posted profits ('in the black') rather than losses ('in the red').[1]
Pronunciation
editProper noun
editBlack Friday (plural Black Fridays)
- Synonym of Friday the thirteenth (“a Friday falling on the 13th day of the month (and therefore doubly ill-omened)”).
- (possibly obsolete) Good Friday.
- Any Friday literally or figuratively darkened by catastrophe, or the anniversary thereof.
- (Internet slang, poker, historical) The conclusion of United States v. Scheinberg in 15 April 2011, after which major online poker sites stopped offering real money play to their United States customers.
- (US, Canada, UK, business, retailing) The day after US Thanksgiving Day, generally regarded as the first day of the Christmas season, and the busiest shopping day of the year. Observed in the US, Canada, and more recently to an extent, the UK.
- Coordinate term: Cyber Monday
- (by extension) The sales period involving heavy price reductions immediately following US Thanksgiving Day, from Friday (the original Black Friday) through Monday (Cyber Monday).
Coordinate terms
editTranslations
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See also
editReferences
edit- ^ The Origins of "Black Friday" on the website of the Visual Thesaurus
French
editEtymology
editFrom English Black Friday (“day after US Thanksgiving Day”).
Pronunciation
editNoun
editBlack Friday m (uncountable)
- Synonym of vendredi fou: Black Friday
Portuguese
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.
Pronunciation
editNoun
editBlack Friday f or (less common) m (plural Black Fridays)
- (retailing, advertising) Black Friday (period with widespread discounts after the fourth Tuesday of November)
- Synonym: (uncommon) Sexta-Feira Negra
Derived terms
editSpanish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.
Noun
editBlack Friday m (plural Black Fridays)
Swedish
editEtymology
editUnadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.
Noun
edit- Black Friday; the day after US Thanksgiving Day when retailers offer special discounts.
- 2021 November 25, Andreas Björklund, “Allt fler konsumenter skeptiska till Black Friday [More and more consumers are skeptical of Black Friday]”, in SVT Nyheter[1]:
- Färre konsumenter kommer att handla på nätet under Black Friday. Det visar en ny årlig undersökning och förklaringen är opinionen kring överkonsumtion. […] Företeelsen Black Friday kommer ursprungligen från USA där folk är lediga i slutet av november på grund av helgdagen Thanksgiving och det har inneburit en naturlig start av julhandeln. Fenomenet dök inte upp i Sverige förrän 2013.
- Fewer consumers will shop online during Black Friday. It shows a new annual survey and the explanation is public opinion about overconsumption. […] The phenomenon Black Friday originally comes from the USA where people are free at the end of November due to the holiday Thanksgiving and it has meant a natural start of the Christmas shopping. The phenomenon did not appear in Sweden until 2013.
- (by extension) The sales period involving price reductions immediately before and after US Thanksgiving Day.
- Coordinate term: Black Week
Derived terms
edit- Black Friday-vecka (“Black Friday week”)
See also
edit- Black Weekend
- Cyber Monday
- mellandagsrea (“December 25th to 31th sale period”)
- Singles' Day
- English terms with audio pronunciation
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- en:Poker
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- American English
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- en:Business
- en:Christmas
- en:Observances
- en:Thanksgiving
- French terms derived from English
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- pt:Advertising
- Spanish terms borrowed from English
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