Can you believe it's almost Black Friday? In the U.S. we use this day as a sort of

seasonal kick-off when we pivot from fall festivities to December holidays. But Black Friday is just one of the many black idioms or phrases

that have worked their way into our daily lives. So today we'll look at the history of Friday, sheep, swans and more as we unpack the black.

Grammar girl here, I'm Nion Fog Fog,

Fog, your friendly guide to the English language.

Stick around because after we talk about idioms that use the word black,

I have a short story for you about how I was a weirdo, which led to learning about

alphabet jokes.

It's a fun light show this week, and if you're in the U.S. Happy Thanksgiving.

Both retailers and shoppers look forward to Black Friday as one of the most exciting shopping days of the year,

but although the day after Thanksgiving is the most

popular Black Friday today, it wasn't the first Black Friday. The phrase actually dates back to

the 17th century before sales and big shopping sprees,

when students called any Friday when there was an exam, a black Friday,

to express their unhappiness.

People have called other Fridays in history Black Friday to recognize dread and panic too.

For example, in 1869, there was a Black Friday, and it wasn't because people were excited to go shopping.

On September 24, 1869, the gold market crashed, causing financial distress.

People called it Black Friday because of the resulting panic and chaos.

We actually first started calling the Friday after Thanksgiving Black Friday

when factory workers began calling out from work that day. The truth was

they weren't all sick. People just wanted to extend their holiday weekend.

...