girl Friday

noun

, Older Use: Sometimes Offensive.

, plural girl Fridays.

1. gal Friday.

girl Friday

noun

1. a female employee who has a wide range of duties, usually including secretarial and clerical work

Word History and Origins

Origin of girl Friday¹

First recorded in 1935–40; modeled on man Friday

Word History and Origins

Origin of girl Friday¹

C20: coined on the pattern of man Friday

Idioms and Phrases

Also, gal Friday . An efficient and faithful female assistant, as in I'll have my girl Friday get the papers together . The expression plays on man Friday , a name for a devoted male servant or assistant. The name Friday comes from Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe , whose shipwrecked hero named the young native who became his faithful companion for the day of the week when he found him. In the mid-1900s Friday was applied to a male servant and then a women secretary or clerk who works for a man. The expression girl Friday gained currency through a motion picture starring Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell, His Girl Friday (1940). Today it tends to be considered condescending and, applied to a woman, sexist.

Example Sentences

As a high school senior, Ms. Miller got her first job in politics working weekends as a “girl Friday on Saturdays” for U.S.

From Washington Post

Police found the body of an adolescent girl Friday while serving a search warrant at a home in Merced believed to be connected to the disappearance of the girl, Sophia Mason, according to authorities.

From Los Angeles Times

Merced police found the body of an adolescent girl Friday afternoon while serving a search warrant at a home believed to be connected to the disappearance of an 8-year-old girl, according to authorities.

From Los Angeles Times

Anwar’s relatives testified at a sentencing hearing for the 15-year-old girl Friday in D.C. juvenile court that the family was now rudderless.

From Washington Post

When police spoke to the girl Friday, she had a pair of Vipertek stun guns, which are sold on Amazon starting at $9.99.

From Fox News