man Friday:
(plural: ‘men Friday’ or ‘man Fridays‘ or, less commonly ‘men Fridays‘; female: ‘girl Friday‘)
a faithful and loyal male (man) worker, servant or employee;
an efficient and trusted male (man) assistant or companion, (like a good friend),
a rich man and his man Friday
e.g.
It seems every prominent person has a man Friday to assist him/her in everyday personal affairs.
Most politicians depend more on their men Friday to sort out everyday mess they get into.
Present day butlers, chief assistants and right-hand men who looked after their masters in more than one way may be considered as the men Friday of the yesteryears.
For an item of news that shows us how we come across this word in our daily browsing, please click here, for a news article about the Royal couple’s ‘man Friday’, please click here, for a news article about a man Friday of a prominent person in Mumbai, India, which suits the actual requirements of a man Friday, please click here and for an article that shows us how this word is used figuratively for non-living things, medicine in this context, please click here.
Note: This phrase/name is first found in a fictional story called ‘Robinson Crusoe’ written by Daniel Defoe in 1719. In the story the hero, Robinson Crusoe, is shipwrecked and is washed away to a remote island near South America where he spends several years alone, and on a Friday he meets a native man from a nearby island and that native stays with Robinson Crusoe as a faithful friend and servant, and Robinson Crusoe calls him “man Friday” because he doesn’t know the man’s name or understand his language, and they both have met on a Friday.
Return to “girl Friday“.
