The term “girl Friday” refers to a female administrative assistant who handles various organizational tasks or personal matters. It can also refer to a female companion who provides support and encouragement. The term originated from the book Robinson Crusoe, where the protagonist’s assistant was named “Man Friday.”
The term girl Friday is generally used to refer to a female administrative assistant who takes care of many organizational tasks. It can also be used to mean a woman who is a personal assistant and looks after another individual’s private matters. In a less common context, it can refer to a female companion who plays a general support role, not necessarily performing tasks but acting as a person’s encourager and devotee.
At a business administration level, the term refers to a woman who juggles a number of business issues and typically does so for one particular person. In general, a woman who fits this role is well organized and handles a multitude of business and administrative matters, keeping a particular individual organized and focused. For example, an attorney may claim that a female paralegal is his girlfriend on Friday as the paralegal is instrumental in managing the attorney’s caseload, setting appointments, and generally keeping that particular attorney organized and in business.
A Friday girl can also refer to a woman who handles personal matters for an individual. This guy could otherwise be considered a personal assistant. She typically handled a wide variety of day-to-day responsibilities, such as shopping, running errands, arranging dinner, and acting as a chauffeur.
In other cases, a woman who serves as an encourager or personal coach is sometimes referred to as a Friday girl. This role differs from both Administrative or Personal Assistant roles in that the individual does not necessarily perform specific business or personal tasks. Rather, when used in this context, it refers to someone who is more of a personal cheerleader and devoted friend—in other words, the female version of a “winged man.” Often, but not always, this particular role coincides with the role of business administrator or, more commonly, the role of personal assistant as the individual looking after the Friday girl tends to become very dependent on her.
Daniel Defoe, the author of Robinson Crusoe, indirectly gave birth to the term girl Friday. In the book, Crusoe rescues a native from cannibals and refers to him as “man Friday” due to the day of the week the rescue took place. Man Friday becomes Crusoe’s faithful friend and assistant. In this way, the book gave rise to the term Friday man, which refers to a faithful and close male assistant.
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