Black Friday

English

Etymology

From black (“bad; ill-omened; marked by disaster”). Friday is an ill-omened day according to ancient superstition, so a Friday that was darkened by another ill-omen (such as being the 13th) or an actual disaster became known as "Black Friday". Philadelphia police applied the term to the day after Thanksgiving because the large number of people out shopping made traffic chaotic. Later, PR efforts purposely invented the incorrect, more positive "etymology" (which is a very popular urban legend and false etymology that was even in Wiktionary from 2008 to 2015) that the name was given because this day is supposedly the first day of the year on which retailers typically posted profits ('in the black') rather than losses ('in the red').

Pronunciation

• Audio (US):

  (file)

Proper noun

Black Friday (plural Black Fridays)

2. Synonym of Friday the thirteenth (“a Friday falling on the 13th day of the month (and therefore doubly ill-omened)”).
4. (possibly obsolete) Good Friday.
6. Any Friday literally or figuratively darkened by catastrophe, or the anniversary thereof.
   2. (Internet slang, poker, historical) The conclusion of United States v. Scheinberg in 15 April 2011, after which major online poker sites stopped offering real money play to their United States customers.
8. (US, Canada, UK, business, retailing) The day after US Thanksgiving Day, generally regarded as the first day of the Christmas season, and the busiest shopping day of the year. Observed in the US, Canada, and more recently to an extent, the UK.

   Coordinate term: Cyber Monday

10. (by extension) The sales period involving heavy price reductions immediately following US Thanksgiving Day, from Friday (the original Black Friday) through Monday (Cyber Monday).

Coordinate terms

• Black Monday
• Black Tuesday
• Black Thursday

Translations

day after U.S. Thanksgiving Day

• Catalan: divendres negre
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 黑色星期五 (hak¹ sik¹ sing¹ kei⁴ ng⁵)

  Mandarin: 黑色星期五 (zh) (Hēisè Xīngqīwǔ, Hēisè Xīngqíwǔ)

• French: vendredi fou (fr) m; vendredi noir m; Black Friday (fr) m
• Galician: venres negro m
• Georgian: შავი პარასკევი (šavi ṗarasḳevi)
• German: Black Friday (de) m
• Hungarian: fekete péntek
• Japanese: ブラックフライデー (burakkufuraidē)
• Kazakh: Қара жұма (Qara jūma)
• Navajo: Ndaʼiiníísh Łizhingo bee Wójíhígíí, Ndaʼiinííshjį́ Diigisii
• Polish: czarny piątek m
• Portuguese: Black Friday (pt) m or f, Sexta-Feira Negra (pt) f
• Romanian: Vinerea Neagră f, Black Friday f
• Spanish: viernes negro m, Black Friday m

sales period involving heavy price reductions

• Arabic: الْجُمُعَة السَّوْدَاء f (al-jumuʕa(t) as-sawdāʔ), الجُمُعَة الْبَيْضَاء f (al-jumuʕa(t) al-bayḍāʔ)
• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 黑色星期五 (hak¹ sik¹ sing¹ kei⁴ ng⁵)

  Mandarin: 黑色星期五 (zh) (Hēisè Xīngqīwǔ, Hēisè Xīngqíwǔ), 黑五 (zh) (Hēiwǔ)

• Esperanto: nigra vendredo
• French: vendredi fou (fr) m
• Georgian: შავი პარასკევი (šavi ṗarasḳevi)
• German: Schlussverkauf (de) m
• Japanese: ブラックフライデー (burakkufuraidē)
• Polish: czarny piątek m
• Portuguese: Black Friday (pt) m or f
• Spanish: liquidaciones (es) f pl

See also

• boxing day

French

Etymology

From English Black Friday (“day after US Thanksgiving Day”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /blak fʁaj.dɛ/

Noun

Black Friday m (uncountable)

1. Synonym of vendredi fou: Black Friday

Portuguese

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.

Pronunciation

• (Brazil) IPA^(key): /ˈblɛk ˈfɹaj.dej/, /ˈblɛk ˈfɾaj.dej/, /ˈblɛ.ki ˈfɾaj.dej/

Noun

Black Friday f or (less common) m (plural Black Fridays)

1. (retailing, advertising) Black Friday (period with widespread discounts after the fourth Tuesday of November)

   Synonym: (uncommon) Sexta-Feira Negra

Derived terms

• Black Fraude

Spanish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.

Noun

Black Friday m (plural Black Fridays)

1. Black Friday

Swedish

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from English Black Friday.

Noun

Black Friday c

1. Black Friday; the day after US Thanksgiving Day when retailers offer special discounts.
   • 2021 November 25, Andreas Björklund, “Allt fler konsumenter skeptiska till Black Friday”, in SVT Nyheter‎^[1]:

     Färre konsumenter kommer att handla på nätet under Black Friday. Det visar en ny årlig undersökning och förklaringen är opinionen kring överkonsumtion. […] Företeelsen Black Friday kommer ursprungligen från USA där folk är lediga i slutet av november på grund av helgdagen Thanksgiving och det har inneburit en naturlig start av julhandeln. Fenomenet dök inte upp i Sverige förrän 2013.

     Fewer consumers will shop online during Black Friday. It shows a new annual survey and the explanation is public opinion about overconsumption. […] The phenomenon Black Friday originally comes from the USA where people are free at the end of November due to the holiday Thanksgiving and it has meant a natural start of the Christmas shopping. The phenomenon did not appear in Sweden until 2013.

2. (by extension) The sales period involving price reductions immediately before and after US Thanksgiving Day.

   Coordinate term: Black Week

Derived terms

• Black Friday-vecka (“Black Friday week”)

See also

• Black Weekend
• Cyber Monday
• mellandagsrea (“December 25th to 31th sale period”)
• Singles' Day