girl Friday
1
7.8
- noun
- Archaic
:
asistente
- He described her as his indispensable girl Friday who helps with everything in the office.
Examples
-
I'm your Girl Friday, you know.
Fiction book (2000) -
Is that the way to greet your favorite girl Friday?
-
I hear he always has a girl Friday who travels with him and happens to be young.
Fiction book (2000) -
A food photographer needs a Girl Friday.
Fiction book (1990) -
When their first enthusiasm wore off, they realized that being a splendidly willing Girl Friday did not make a photographer.
Fiction book (1990) -
She is Ned's astute, dedicated, self-sacrificing "girl Friday" and legal secretary.
Fiction book (1993) -
As the embassy's operations officer—a fancy title for girl Friday, she reflected—such things went with the job.
Fiction book (1998) -
Then this Girl Friday might get quite irked when things don't go right, letting you know by tightening "her" voice, talking faster, maybe even fidgeting with the office hardware.
Fiction book (2002) -
As the executive's girl Friday, she managed his schedule and answered all his calls.
-
Every successful entrepreneur needs a reliable girl Friday to handle various tasks.
Synonyms
A female worker who does different jobs when needed
A woman who does small tasks like repairs or gardening
Antonyms
How Versatile
Surface Forms
Morphology
girl + Friday
The sense 'female assistant' cannot be derived from the literal constituents: 'girl' (woman) plus 'Friday' (a day/name) give no clue to assistance. The phrase is an idiomatic, culture-specific extension of 'Man Friday' (literary reference), so its meaning is not predictable for a B1 learner who only knows the component words.
Etymology
Girl Friday may come from the character Friday in the old story 'Robinson Crusoe', where Friday was a loyal 'helper' to the main character. People later said 'man Friday' for a trusted helper, and the 1940 film 'His Girl Friday' made the female form well known, so today girl Friday means a woman who helps with many tasks.