girl Friday


Also found in: Dictionary, Thesaurus, Wikipedia.
Related to girl Friday: man Friday

girl Friday

A female assistant who is capable of many different types of tasks. Based on the term "man Friday," the term can be considered sexist. I like to have my daughter be my girl Friday during "take your child to work" day. She's a better worker than some of my employees!
See also: Friday, girl

girl Friday

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.
See also: Friday, girl
References in periodicals archive ?
In 1993, His Girl Friday was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the United States National Film Registry and in 2000, His Girl Friday was 19th on American Film Institute's list of AFI's "100 Years.
MovieZoot.com Adds Iconic His Girl Friday to Its Romance and Comedy Film Collection
As with Green's other novels, Girl Friday is nevertheless a real page-turner, and the ideal beach read.
SWITCH OFF If the television's not on
Girl Friday focuses on mother-of-two Kit, who has to dig deep to find her survivor mechanism after agreeing to divorce Adam, her husband of almost 15 years.
Books
As for the Girl Friday tag, it should be Miss Doddering Middle-aged Friday by now.
Don't call me Girl Friday. I'm Miss Doddering Middle-aged Friday; Exclusive She was the original Castaway who inspired the Hollywood movie and Lucy Irvine is still living an adventure
His Girl Friday is famously "fast" and, as per Hawks's boast, is often said to be "faster" than Milestone's The Front Page.
Keeping up with Hawks
Historically, French directors have been among the most insightful fans of American cinema, and such American directors as Howard Hawks (His Girl Friday, The Big Sleep) enjoyed critical reputations in France before they did in America.
French kiss-off: how protectionism has hurt French films
Either parents or the Girl Friday can escort children to the Mini Club and Kiddies Center, where those ages two to 11 have supervised play.
Family value vacations: three great and affordable places to take the kids
destinations, has teamed up with My Girl Friday Inc.
Key2Travel Teams up with My Girl Friday to Take the Stress and Guess out of Travel
Girl Friday Mystery Series: Go Girl Friday and Bad Hair Days by D.
Libboo.com Features Reno Authors
Phillippe is the straight man in the middle of the lunacy, one smirk away from corpsing, while Wiig comes closest to making us care about her hapless girl Friday.
Big screen a step too far
It was styled on the 1940 movie His Girl Friday with Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell.
Showbiz Sam; THE MAN IN THE KNOW
Tickets for the concert cost pounds 5 and are available on the door or from The Moat House Inn, or Ross Garage and Girl Friday, both in Alcester.
Concert for firemen's families
Who in the 1990s starred in Girl Friday recounting her nine-day stay on an uninhabited island off Madagascar?
Teabreak Teasers
If I wasn't going to be her from Press Gang, then it was Rosalind Russell exchanging rapid-fire back chat with Cary Grant in His Girl Friday.
My life with Earl Grey and other social highlights in the newsroom
The Empire Strikes Back, the second film in the Star Wars saga, was eighth, followed by The Lord of the Rings trilogy and Cary Grant comedy His Girl Friday.
Goodfellas ahead of mob in movie poll
Idioms browser ?
Full browser ?