How Many Days Until Friday?

Friday. The word alone makes most people feel a little lighter. It is the gateway to the weekend, the finish line of the work week, and the day when everything feels possible. The word "Friday" comes from Old English "Frigedaeg," meaning the day of Frige, the Norse goddess of love and fertility (equivalent to the Roman goddess Venus, which is why Friday is "viernes" in Spanish and "vendredi" in French).

There is a reason "TGIF" became a cultural catchphrase. Studies show that mood and life satisfaction are measurably higher on Fridays compared to other weekdays. A 2012 study published in the Journal of Positive Psychology found that people experience more positive emotions and fewer negative ones on Fridays, even before the workday ends.

Friday is also the most popular day for many things: it is the busiest day for restaurants, the most common day for first dates, and the day when the most music is released (since the global "New Music Friday" standard was adopted in 2015).

Friday the 13th

While most people love Fridays, Friday the 13th has a bad reputation. The fear of this date is called paraskevidekatriaphobia (try saying that three times fast). The superstition has murky origins. Some trace it to the Last Supper (13 guests, followed by Good Friday), while others point to Friday, October 13, 1307, when King Philip IV of France arrested hundreds of Knights Templar.

Despite the superstition, studies show that Friday the 13th is not actually more dangerous than any other day. A 2008 Dutch study found that fewer accidents and fires occur on Friday the 13th, possibly because superstitious people are more cautious.

The Friday economy

Fridays are the biggest day of the week for retail sales, both in-store and online. Movie studios release their biggest films on Fridays. Happy hour was invented for Fridays. And "Casual Friday" started as a way for companies to boost morale in the 1990s, though in many offices every day is now casual.

Worker productivity tends to drop on Friday afternoons. One survey found that only about 3 hours of actual productive work happen on a typical Friday. This has fueled the growing movement toward four-day work weeks, which studies in Iceland, the UK, and elsewhere have shown can maintain or even improve productivity.