A month of SundaysHow long is a month of Sundays … or a week of four Thursdays ... is it time to rest?
It’s been a month of Sundays since I heard that phrase. It made me think … how long is a month of Sundays? Does it mean (A) four days because there is a maximum of four Sundays in a month? Does it mean (B) that in a month of 30 or 31 days, every day feels like a Sunday? Does it mean (C) 30 or 31 weeks because that would be a month of only Sundays? Does it mean (D) never because there is never a month with all Sundays? Hyperbolically, it might be as long as it takes someone to actually hear the word hyperbolically! My musings about this Sunday phrase began a few days ago when I heard the French phrase la semaine des quatres jeudis – the week of four Thursdays. Why Thursdays I asked. The answer was because Thursday was not a school day in France in years past. These days, most children don’t go to primary school on Wednesday in France and attend for half a day on Wednesday at middle school and high school. Thursday was once a day of rest, just as Sunday is now typically a day of rest. The week of four Thursdays is just not likely to happen – ever! Never! My French acquaintances and I had a debate about the phrase, a month of Sundays, over a Sunday morning coffee. Their focus was on the word ‘of’ – so, they said, the month has 30 Sundays, making the meaning very clear. It’s never going to happen. Not ever! Never! It dawned on me that the phrase is most often said in its entirety – Never in a month of Sundays. And this reminded all of us of the 1960 song Never on Sunday written by Billy Towne and Manos Hatzidakis. Originally in Greek, Melina Mercouri sang it in the movie of the same name. When translated into English, the song was most commonly referred to as Never on a Sunday. Oh, you can kiss me on a Monday, a Monday, Or you can kiss me on a Wednesday, a Thursday a Friday, And ending with … Oh, you can kiss me on a cool day, a hot day, a wet day, And you can make it on a bleak day, a freak day, or a week day, Can’t see the whole article? Want to view the original article? Want to view more articles? Go to Martina’s Substack: The Stories in You and Me
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