Etymology

man Friday

man Fri·day

Today it means: A trusted man whose job is to assist and organize someone else's day-to-day business or personal tasks; a personal assistant, a right-hand man; also, a trusted male companion. Full definition →

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The story

From man (“adult male servant”) + Friday, coined by the English writer Daniel Defoe (c. 1660 – 1731) in his novel Robinson Crusoe (1719) as the name of the protagonist Crusoe’s companion and servant; he is rescued by Crusoe from cannibal captives on a Friday. Crusoe frequently refers to him as “my man Friday”.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.