Tirsdag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019teearsda\u2019). Having survived that dreadful Monday, you\u2019re now getting back on track in your everyday\u00a0arbejdsrytme<\/strong> (\u201dwork rhythm\u201d). With the weekend\u2019s amusement still fresh in mind, and the major part of the arbejdsuge<\/strong> (\u201dwork week\u201d) ahead, tirsdag<\/strong> has something vigorous about it. (Do notice that day names are written in lower-case in Danish.) The original meaning of tirsdag<\/strong> is \u201dTyr\u2019s day\u201d, Tyr being a god of war and justice in Norse mythology.<\/p>\n Onsdag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019onsda\u2019) is the middle day. Bringing your children to\u00a0b\u00f8rnehave<\/strong> (kindergarten) or taking seat in your university\u2019s l\u00e6sesal<\/strong> (reading room) now works like a charm. Onsdag<\/strong> must have been an important day, because its name means \u201dthe day of Odin\u201d \u2013 the Vikings\u2019 one-eyed grand old daddy god.<\/p>\n Torsdag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019toarsda\u2019). This is the day to give yourself the thumbs up: Only one more day to go! Every p\u00e5ske<\/strong> (Easter) there is a special sk\u00e6rtorsdag<\/strong> (Maundy Thursday, literally \u201dPurification Thursday\u201d). That name is something of an oxymoron, as\u00a0torsdag<\/strong> \u2013 and only torsdag<\/strong> \u2013 has a heathen ethymology which is still discernible in modern Danish: Tors<\/strong> dag<\/strong> or Thors dag<\/strong>, the day of the thunder god Thor.<\/p>\n Fredag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019frehda\u2019 \u2013 but make sure to \u201dthroat\u201d the r as in French or standard German!). You\u2019ve made it! The last weekday, fredag<\/strong> is a breeze. Some people have fewer arbejdstimer<\/strong> (working hours \u2013 you guess the singular!) this day. Many universities and even adolescents\u2019 schools organize fredagsbar<\/strong> or fredagscaf\u00e9<\/strong> \u2013 an informal setting to get a beer or three with your co-students and exchange chit-chat about the past week. It is commonly believed that fredag<\/strong> means \u201dFreja\u2019s day\u201d, Freja being the Norse love godess. However, language specialists seem to agree that this day has actually got its name from Odin\u2019s wife, Frigg.<\/p>\n L\u00f8rdag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019lirda\u2019, with \u2019ir\u2019 as in \u2019girl\u2019). Hooray, finally it\u2019s weekend<\/strong> (yes, this word we\u2019ve stolen from English \u2013 however, most people danify the pronunciation as \u2019veekend\u2019). That is, unless you\u2019re an emergency doctor or work in a shop \u2013 most shops keep open on l\u00f8rdage<\/strong>. L\u00f8rdag<\/strong> is the only day name which has an ethymology different from the corresponding English ones: Whereas Saturday<\/em> means \u2019Saturn\u2019s day\u2019, l\u00f8r-<\/strong> comes from an Old Norse word meaning \u2019washing\u2019. After five days\u2019 work, now it\u2019s the time to cleanse your dirty rags! \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n S\u00f8ndag<\/strong> (pronounced \u2019sernda\u2019). It looks like s\u00f8n<\/strong> (son), but this day used to be \u2019the day of the Sun\u2019. (Sun<\/em> is sol<\/strong> in modern Danish, though.) Christian people go to kirke<\/strong> (church), but the majority of the rather secular Danes use this day to cure the Saturday\u00a0t\u00f8mmerm\u00e6nd<\/strong> (hangover), enjoy the Sun (!) if it\u2019s there, and recharge the batteries, as we like to say, for the week ahead.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Mandag (pronounced \u2019manda\u2019). This is the first day of the week in Denmark \u2013 and most of Europe, for that matter. The American habit of putting Sundays first in calendars looks weird to Danes. You can\u2019t start the week relaxing, you know, it takes some toil before you merit that weekend! Mandag looks like…<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/danish\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/30\/2011\/10\/ugedage.jpg\")