weekday / holiday

[meijin]

According to a few dictionaries I've consulted, a "weekday" is any day of the week except (Saturday and) Sunday. So, if next Monday is a public holiday, it's still a "weekday".

Now, the following is from The MAD (Mechanical Art & Design) Museum.

Admission: £7.80
Opening times:
OFFER TIMES:

April - September Weekdays 10.00-17.00, Weekends/Holidays* 10.00-17.30
October - March Weekdays 10.30-16.30, Weekends/Holidays* 10.00-17.30

*Warwickshire school holiday and UK bank holidays

To me, it doesn't seem correct to describe the days that are not Saturday, Sunday, or holidays as "weekdays", since holidays that fall on weekdays are also "weekdays." (Maybe the definition of "weekday" in the dictionaries is wrong?)

Would it be odd to describe them as "business days" or "work(ing) days" in the above example?

 

[lingobingo]

I’m pretty sure no Brit reading those details would misunderstand them. It’s explicitly stated that those times apply to all weekdays EXCEPT bank holidays — which (as everyone knows) are always on a Monday, making a “long weekend” — and those during the school holidays.

Your proposed edits would simply confuse people.

 

[entangledbank]

A public holiday Monday is a weekday, and Christmas Day often falls on a weekday. They are not working days. The example you quote tries to make it simple by contrasting weekdays with weekends, which is correct, and usually (most weeks) not a problem, but it then adds something to include holidays with weekends, which could also be considered correct if you allow a specific mention to override a general term.

In fact you can do the override without even mentioning weekdays:

April - September 10.00-17.00, Weekends/Holidays* 10.00-17.30

 

[meijin]

Thanks both. So in English there is no word or term that simply means "any day of the week except Saturday, Sunday, and holidays"? I just had to ask because we have such a word in Japanese.

 

[lingobingo]

A working day could imply that, but it’s simply not a term that’s normally used in that context.

 

[meijin]

I think a "working day" doesn't simply mean "any day of the week except Saturday, Sunday, and holidays", and that is why it wouldn't be used in that context.

 

[Roxxxannne]

"Workday" and "working day" are theoretically possible. But in reality a museum wouldn't use those words in the listing of the hours when it's open. Visitors who are not native speakers would be much more likely to be confused by the word 'workday' (which is probably not easily found in the average English phrase book) than by 'Monday', which is more easily found.

And 'workday' is meaningless when one is retired and on vacation and thus more likely to visit a museum on a Thursday morning, when all working folk are at work.

 

[JulianStuart]

There is a term "business day" used in determining the length of time some operation/task will take. In such a usage, any day that is not a day normal business is conducted would not be considered a business day. For a typical business that operates M-F but not Sa or Su, then M-F are business days. National/government holidays (whatever day of the week) would not be considered business days. "Once we receive your order, you should expect to receive your items within three business days." If you order something in Friday, and the followin Monday is a holiday, you won't get your item until Thursday
When is the first business day?

 

[Uncle Jack]

I think that "weekday" has exactly the meaning you are looking for, a day that isn't Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday. It is rare for "weekday" to include public holidays.

 

[JulianStuart]

I think that "weekday" has exactly the meaning you are looking for, a day that isn't Saturday, Sunday or a public holiday. It is rare for "weekday" to include public holidays.

This may be a BE/AE difference. My current usage (in AElandia) and confirmed by my wife, is that Monday to Friday remain weekdays even if one is sometimes a national holiday. (Bank holiday is not a concept that is used in rhe US). Weekend typically refers to Saturday and Sunday,

 

[heypresto]

I very rarely disagree with Uncle Jack, but for me bank holiday Mondays are weekdays. They may not, for most people, be a working day, but they are weekdays.

 

[meijin]

Thanks all for the help.

If you have a friend who works in an office or store/shop everyday except Saturdays, Sundays, and holidays, would you ask, for example:

1) What time do you get up on weekdays? (expecting your friend to answer excluding holidays), or
2) What time do you get up on workdays/working days?

2 doesn't sound very idiomatic to me, and "business days" would be unnatural as well in this context.

 

[Roxxxannne]

If I'm asking what time my friend gets up on a day when she works, I use 'workday.' If I am asking someone who's retired and no longer works, I might use 'weekday,' or I might ask 'what time do you generally get up?'

 

[meijin]

I see. So #2 is actually idiomatic. Good to know.

 

[JulianStuart]

Several words/phrases are quite frequently used: workday, work day, weekday, business day

 

[kentix]

I would just ask them, "What time do you get up on days you have to work?"

That covers all possibilities, including if they work Saturday or Sunday.

 

[kentix]

I very rarely disagree with Uncle Jack, but for me bank holiday Mondays are weekdays. They may not, for most people, be a working day, but they are weekdays.

A weekday is a weekday. It might also be a holiday. Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday and is a weekday and a holiday and for most people not a working day, but not for all. Some jobs need staffing every minute of every day of the year.

The sign is a standard format - general rule followed by specific exceptions

Admission - $5, Children 12 and under - $3

 

[much_rice]

Monday through Friday are weekdays. If one of them happens to be a holiday, then you use the holiday hours. The fact that a given day is a holiday supersedes the fact that it's a weekday. That's why the two categories are

1. Weekdays
2. Weekends and Holidays

If a holiday falls on a weekend, there's no change. If it falls on a weekday, then you know to follow the "Weekends and Holidays" hours.

This system is also used to determine bus schedules and, in big cities, when you have to move your car to the other side of the road for the street sweepers.

 

[meijin]

I would just ask them, "What time do you get up on days you have to work?"

That covers all possibilities, including if they work Saturday or Sunday.

But isn't that the same as "What time do you get up on workdays/working days?" Is "days you have to work" more natural than "workdays" or "working days"?

Monday through Friday are weekdays. If one of them happens to be a holiday, then you use the holiday hours. The fact that a given day is a holiday supersedes the fact that it's a weekday. That's why the two categories are

1. Weekdays
2. Weekends and Holidays

If a holiday falls on a weekend, there's no change. If it falls on a weekday, then you know to follow the "Weekends and Holidays" hours.

This system is also used to determine bus schedules and, in big cities, when you have to move your car to the other side of the road for the street sweepers.

This is very helpful. Thanks much_rice.

 

[JulianStuart]

But isn't that the same as "What time do you get up on workdays/working days?" Is "days you have to work" more natural than "workdays" or "working days"?

Yet agian, we find multiple ways of saying the same thing in English

 

[meijin]

OK, so it's just a matter of preference, and none of the three expressions are unidiomatic.