Fridayed (or, in good Portuguese: Sextou)
I don't remember exactly when sextou became a thing, but it feels as if it's been around forever, in Instagram hashtags and happy hour themes.
Let me explain that linguistically: in Portuguese, Friday is sexta-feira (lower-case. It means the sixth day). Sexta-feira, like Friday, isn't a verb, it's a noun. But there's this cool process called verbifying: when we turn nouns into verbs. We do it in English all the time — I'll text you, let me Google that, let's FaceTime, etc — but when we do it in Portuguese, we must add a suffix. The verb to drink in Portuguese is tomar, and in the past, it becomes tomou.
Tomar = To drink = verb isn't conjugated
Tom- = drink = radical stem
-ou = -ed* = one possible suffix that transforms the verb into past simple
Tomou = drank = verb conjugated in the past
*I know ‘to drink’ is irregular and doesn't end in -ed, but I said possible!!
In other words, saying “sextou” is a verbified way of saying that Friday has come. It's how we Brazilians celebrate the end of the work week, even though in the past century it's become the new normal to work Monday-Saturday. Um, that's a rant for another hour.
It seems that most cultures have ways of celebrating Fridays. Indeed, by the time Friday comes, we're all dejected and feeling like kicking our boss in the nuts, or in the metaphorical nuts. That's weirdly especially true if you're your own boss. Entrepreneurs, freelancers, and otherwise self-employed people are some of the most workaholic, perfectionist, balls of anxiety little freaks (affectionate) out there. No, I'm not talking from experience, why would you ask? Aaaaaanyways.
In today's newsletter, I am committing to you and to making your Friday a little bit more special. Sadly I cannot go kick your boss's nuts, metaphorical or not (I am very small), but what I can do is make Fridays a special day in Daily Writer Diaries.
Let's make a deal: you ask me anything you'd like me to respond at length, and I'll select these questions to write about in the upcoming Fridays. An essay-form of AMA. The questions can be public in the comment section, or they can be seen only by me, by hitting reply to this email, and I'll keep your identity a secret.
Your questions can be about anything: publishing, writing, languages and linguistics, cats, nerdy stuff, or more personal topics. I promise to treat your heart with care and love.
Let's see how I can make your Fridays are a little more, hmm… crafted especially to you. Sextou.
Until tomorrow,
Gabhi
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