Tuesday
 |
The god Týr, identified with Mars, after whom Tuesday is named. |
Tuesday is considered either the second or the third day of the
week, between
Monday and
Wednesday. The word "Tuesday" comes from
Middle English Twisday, from
Old English Tiwes dæg, a rendering of
Latin Martis dies. The
English and
Scandinavian names are derived from the
Nordic god
Tyr (in
Old English,
Tiw,
Tew or
Tiu. In
Swedish,
Tisdag,
Danish:
Tirsdag,
Finnish:
Tiistai and in
Norwegian:
Tirsdag.) Tyr was the Norse equivalent of the Roman war god
Mars, hence
Martis dies ("Mars's day").
Quakers traditionally refer to Tuesday as "Third Day" eschewing the
pagan origin of the English name "Tuesday".
In the
Greek world, Tuesday (the day of the week of the
Fall of Constantinople) is considered an unlucky day. The same is true in the
Spanish-speaking world, where a proverb runs
En martes, ni te cases ni te embarques (On Tuesday, neither get married nor begin a journey). Also in the Spanish-speaking world, the 13th of the month is considered unlucky if it falls on Tuesday, instead of
Friday.
Tuesday is the usual day for
elections in the
United States. Federal elections take place on the Tuesday after the first Monday in
November; this date was established by a law of
1845 for
presidential elections (specifically for the selection of the
Electoral College), and was extended to elections for the
House of Representatives in
1875 and for the
Senate in 1914. Tuesday was the earliest day of the week which was practical for polling in the early nineteenth century: citizens might have to travel for a whole day to cast their vote, and would not wish to leave on
Sunday which was a day of worship for the great majority of them.
*In the popular rhyme, "Tuesday's child is full of grace."
*"Tuesday Morning" is the name of a song by
Michelle Branch, found on her 2003 album
Hotel Paper. A different song of the same name by
Melissa Etheridge can be found on her 2004 album "
Lucky"
*
Tuesday Morning is a chain of discount gift and home accessory stores.
*"Tuesday Afternoon" (Forever Afternoon) by
The Moody Blues Tuesday Night Music Club is the name of
Sheryl Crow's 1993 debut album.
Tuesday Night Book Club was a short-lived show
CBS reality TV series that aired on Tuesday evenings.
In French, Tuesday is "Mardi", associating it with the planet
Mars. This marries Tuesday with ideas of strife, battles to be won and pressing issues and jobs to get sorted. It is not a day to relax. This same meaning can be seen in the Spanish "Martes" and the English "Tuesday" ("Tyr's day.") In
India, Tuesday is called "Mangalvar", for the
Vedic planet
Mangala or Mars.
*
Black Tuesday, in the
United States, refers to
October 29,
1929, part of the great Stock Market Crash of 1929. This was the Tuesday after Black Thursday. The crash is said to have marked the start of the
Great Depression.
*
Happy Tuesday is a minor holiday celebrated primarily by
students in the
United Kingdom.
*
Patch Tuesday is the second Tuesday of every month when
Microsoft releases patches for their products. Some
system administrators call this day Black Tuesday.
*
Shrove Tuesday (also called
Mardi Gras -
fat Tuesday) precedes the first day of
Lent in the Western
Christian calendar.
*
Super Tuesday is the day many American states hold their presidential
primary elections.
