“Humpback day” is a modern tradition in American English, representing the middle of the week as a peak or hump in a hill-like work week. There is disagreement on whether Wednesday is the true “hump” day, but for many workers, it represents the downhill path towards the weekend. Wednesday has negative associations in some cultures, but for many workers, reaching hump day is a cause for celebration.
Referring to Wednesday as “humpback day” is a fairly modern tradition in American English. The term represents the idea that a week can be visualized as a mound or hill that a person climbs, with Wednesday typically being the middle or peak of the week. There is some disagreement about what day of the week the “hump” should be, as it varies depending on when a person works and how the week starts. There are other sources of negative associations with Wednesday, and few holidays are celebrated on this day regularly.
The image of a humpback
“Hump day” refers to the idea that a week, especially a work week, is like a hill. Mondays and Tuesdays are days a person “gets on” as they are the start or start of a traditional work week. By the end of Wednesday, the worker has reached the peak of the week, and work on Thursday and Friday represents the descent into the weekend.
This image specifically refers to that middle of the week, where a worker crests the uphill path and starts walking down towards the end of the week. Someone with a boring job or who works especially hard may find it comforting to reach “hump day”. At that point, the weekend doesn’t seem quite as far away as it did when he started work on Monday.
Disagree on Wednesday
There is some controversy as to whether Wednesday is really “humpback day”. When the expression first emerged, many people worked six days a week and only had Sunday as their day off. Some people suggest that in this context, Thursday would actually have been “humpback day”.
Looking at the course of a seven day week starting on Monday, Thursday is the fourth day of the week and in the direct middle. Still, many people count the start of the week as Sunday, and this makes Wednesday the real middle, regardless of the use of “hump day” in reference to work. For people who work a different schedule from Monday to Friday, there may be a different central day that suits them.
Negative associations with Wednesday
While many may see humpback day as a very good thing, Wednesdays have sometimes gotten a bad rap. An ancient nursery rhyme describing children born every day describes children born on Wednesday as “full of trouble.” Wednesday can be thought of as gray days, unhappy days, or unlucky days according to popular literature. However, for many workers, the arrival of hump day is cause for applause, and whether it’s windy or grey, it still means the weekend is near.
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