What is friday? This is known to be the fifth day of the calendar weekly cycle. In the Russian language there is a stable expression "seven Fridays in a week." This is what they say about a windy, fickle person who often changes his mind. Let's try to understand the origin of this phraseological unit from different points of view.
What does a connoisseur of the Great Russian language V. I. Dal say about Friday
In Scripture, Friday is the name of St. Paraskeva, brutally tortured by pagans for her commitment to Christianity. The Venerable Virgin is especially revered in Russia, her icons heal from physical and mental illnesses, protect livestock from disease and mortality. Interestingly, the name Paraskeva (Praskovya) in Greek means Friday. This name was given to the girl by her parents in memory of the Suffering of the Lord.
Accordingly, churches and chapels built in honor of the Great Martyr were called Fridays, and it was on the fifth day of the week that it was supposed to give honor to the Holy Virgin. The Dahl dictionary says that on Fridays the people did not work, marking Paraskeva's day.
Surely some people spent too much time in the temples; according to figurative expression, they had seven Fridays in the week. The value of phraseologism in this case evokes thoughts of idleness, idleness, excessive piety. But what does inconstancy and windiness have to do with it? So far the question remains open.
Scientific and ethnographic version of the origin of phraseology
According to the researcher of the national life of the scientist Sergei Vasilievich Maximov, the established expression takes its roots from the ancient, still pre-Christian past of the Slavs. It seems like in Russia, Friday was a day off for trading. Often, sellers and buyers did not fulfill their obligations to deliver or pay for the goods. They said that such dishonest citizens had seven Fridays in a week.
This option, although it is the most common explanation, is still suggestive. First, the week, as a calendar cycle, was called a week among the Slavs. Secondly, the last day was non-working, which was reflected in its name: “week” ─ do nothing. Thirdly, taking into account the fact that people were mainly engaged in agriculture and handicraft production, what kind of days off could there be? Something is wrong here ...
Friday in Russian legends and beliefs
From ancient times, the fifth day of the week was considered mystical, unhappy, unsuccessful for new initiatives. For example, there was such a saying: "Do not do business on Friday, otherwise they will back off." It is understood that the undertaking conceived on this day is doomed to failure in advance. Imagine a man whose work does not argue on any of the days, no matter what he undertakes, everything goes awry. Naturally, with such stumbling, no one wanted to establish business relations, you should not rely on him, because everything fell out of his hands.
It is also noteworthy that initially the phraseology “seven Fridays in a week” was attached exclusively to female coloring. On Fridays it was not allowed to spin the yarn, since the process was necessarily accompanied by wetting of the fingers with saliva. And spit on Friday ─ a great sin, on this day Christ accepted the torment on the cross and was spat upon by enemies. When they said that the woman had seven Fridays in the week, they meant that the woman constantly takes time off from work.
Heels and Fridays ─ are these words the same root or not?
Do you know the phrase “back heel”? It is it, if you think about it, that is very close in its semantic subtext to the phraseological unit under study. Here it is understood that the person who made a decision immediately refuses it, backs away.
It is possible that earlier in Russian the meaning of the word “Friday” had a slightly different connotation and was pronounced with emphasis on the penultimate syllable. Formed from the verb "back off," it meant "retreat, evasion." Then the meaning of the expression “seven Fridays in a week” becomes absolutely clear. So you can characterize a person who is constantly backing away, renounces his promises, evades previous commitments.
Over time, words similar in sound combined into one, which is not uncommon in Russian. This version is also supported by the fact that in some folk tales the word “Friday” is used with the wrong emphasis. For example, girls who are wondering about the coming dream pronounce the phrase: “Friday is Friday, those who love will dream.”