order of the day, the

the order of the day

Something that is a priority in a certain situation or at a given time. If you're taking the kids to the beach, then sunscreen is the order of the day. While you're in college, studying is the order of the day, not socializing!

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order of the day

something necessary or usual at a certain time. Warm clothes are the order of the day when camping in the winter. Going to bed early was the order of the day when we were young.

See also: of, order

order of the day, the

The prevailing or expected mode, the current agenda, as in Volatility is the order of the day in high-tech stocks, or T-shirts and blue jeans were the order of the day for the picnic. This expression, dating from the late 1600s, originally alluded to the subject of debate in a legislature on a particular day, as well as to specific commands given to troops. Its figurative use dates from the second half of the 1700s.

See also: of, order

The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

the order of the day

COMMON If something is the order of the day, it is what is happening or necessary in a particular situation. Wage cuts were the order of the day owing to the government's economic measures. Informality is the order of the day among all the Princess's household.

See also: of, order

Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed. © HarperCollins Publishers 2012

the order of the day

1 the prevailing state of things. 2 something that is required or recommended.

2 2001 Rural Cooperatives Mergers and consolidations have been the order of the day among cooperatives that are faced with the declining number of producers and rising energy-based and other costs.

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Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary © Farlex 2017

the ˌorder of the ˈday

what is normally done, etc. or should be done in a particular situation; the usual attitudes, beliefs, etc. of a particular group of people: Dinner jackets and evening dresses are the order of the day at these parties.

See also: of, order

order of the day, the

The agenda; the most important activity or issue. This term originated in the seventeenth century and was used both in the military, for specific commands given to the troops for the day, and in legislative bodies for the day’s agenda. By the late eighteenth century it was being used figuratively, as by George Washington, quoted as saying (1795), “Peace has been (to borrow a modern phrase) the order of the day.” The poet Howard Fish put it very cynically (The Wrongs of Man, 1819): “The good but pine; the order of the day is—prey on others, or become a prey.”

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References in periodicals archive ?

Michael Henry Adams states, "as Harlem grew and real-estate speculation became the order of the day, the dollar value of land became paramount in developers' eyes long before any actual profits had been realized.

Harlem Lost and Found: an Architectural and Social History, 1765-1915

In a period when isolation and concerted attempts at conversion were the order of the day, the very existence of this office seems anomalous; but Jewish notaries existed, kept records in Hebrew, and served as the backbone of Jewish self-rule.

Theater of Acculturation: The Roman Ghetto in the Sixteenth Century

In this show eclecticism and irony are the order of the day, the unmistakeable tools of the post-Modernist, and also age-old hallmarks of traditional Native American art.