Phraseology and Culture in English

7. “Poet’s 
Day” 
One doesn’t have to be a poet, nor even an amateur of fine books, to be 
impatiently waiting for the weekend: even those who don’t have their 
“Poet’s Day” (or “Poets’ Day”). Warrnambool residents, in Victoria, may 
want to go the Seanchai Irish Pub where, on Fridays between 5 and 7 pm, a 
Poet’s Day Pub Quiz is being held. “Fridays were always known as Poet’s 
Day, a crude way of saying ‘Nick off early, tomorrow’s Saturday’”, claimed, 
on 7 July 2000, Narelle Hooper (on the ABC Radio’s The World Today; cf. 
Section 2.2). 
“A crude way”? What is so crude about the phrase Poet’s day? Lyricist 
and singer Eddie Thunder Stealer knows everything about it. His true name 
is Tim Walmsley, and the last song on his first CD (My first words of Aus-
tralian, 2001) is called “Poet’s day”. Contrary to the concept which hides 
behind the title, and which is far more universal (like T.G.I.F.), this is a 
very Australian song.
13
“Poet’s day” opens with a list of the five working 
days: “Monday, Tuesday, Humpday, Payday, Poet’s day”. Humpday, some-
times spelled in two words, is not commonly heard in Australia. Obviously, 
it stands for Wednesday, and once Wednesday is over, or at least under-
way, one is over the hump (of the working week). Payday refers to Thurs-
day, when workers traditionally get their pay. Poet’s day will be clarified in 
a moment. The first verse refers to the routine of the first five days of the 
week (“the five day drag” of the Easybeats): 
Trudging through the working week 
6 a.m., out of bed, on my feet 
Coco pops, cup of tea, vegemite 
Into the car, on my way 
Another day 
Then, in the second verse of “Poet’s Day”, surfaces the other theme of “Fri-
day on my mind”, expressed in the line “Hey, I’ll change that scene one 
day”: 
A rich man, if my numbers fall 
Seven day weekender 
Sleeping in, surfing hard, party time 
Everyday will be Poet’s day
14
In the last verse, Eddie Thunder Stealer addresses six poets, whose names 
are linked either with a literary reference or with some biographical de-
tail:
15

---

Australian perceptions of the weekend
97
I will say to all of them : 
“Piss off early, tomorrow’s Saturday” 
The key passage is in the second line. Poet’s day is an acronym, not for 
“Nick off early, tomorrow’s Saturday” (Narelle Hooper), but for “Piss off
early, tomorrow’s Saturday”. The Macquarie Dictionary of Australian Col-
loquial Language (Delbridge 1988) defines Poet’s day as ‘Friday, the day 
on which people often leave work a little early’. An almost identical defini-
tion appears in Johansen’s (1996) Penguin Book of Australian Slang: ‘Fri-
day, the day when workers often leave a little early from work’. Why? 
Simply because, on Fridays, people are in a hurry to go home to spend the 
weekend with family and / or friends. “She’s gone. She’s taken a POETS 
day”, is the answer given to Robyn Williams (“Line drop-out”, ABM [Aus-
tralian Business Monthly], January 1995) when, one Friday afternoon, on 
the phone, he asks for Janelle, whom he had spoken to a few moments ear-
lier. “I knew all about POETS day. Piss off early, tomorrow’s Saturday.” 
Whether many Australians nowadays can still afford to take a “Poet’s Day” 
is up for discussion. After the publication of How Australia Compares 
(Tiffen and Gittins 2004), Peter Shadbolt wrote in the London Telegraph,
in an article titled “Strewth! Aussies give up the grog” (dated 4 May): 
“Once famous for referring to Friday as Poets day (standing for P*** Off 
Early Tomorrow’s Saturday), the average worker Down Under now clocks 
up 1,855 work hours a year, 20 hours ahead of Americans on 1,835 and 34 
more than the Japanese on 1,821”.