October 3rd is so fetch!

When mentioning the month of October, one day often comes to mind. National Mean Girls Day, but of course! Mean Girls Day is on October 3rd where fans of all ages commemorate the movie and musical by decking out in pink garb. There are other, less official, ways to celebrate, however. Try dropping ‘fetch’ into a conversation or ordering cheese fries to start. 

Why October 3rd you may ask? Why fetch or cheese fries? All of these subtle references derive from movie quotes. For those unaccustomed with Tina Fey’s Mean Girls, Aaron Samuels (Jonathan Bennett) asks Cady Heron (Lindsay Lohan) what day it is, she responds, “It’s October 3.” From there onward the day has been celebrated nation-wide. “Fetch” is a phrase that Gretchen Wieners (Lacey Chabert) commonly says throughout the duration of the movie in an attempt to impress Regina George (Rachel McAdams). Regina George, being the classic manipulative teen, remains unamused and claims that fetch “isn’t going to happen.” However, October 3rd is the one day a year that fans can make fetch happen, so give it a shot! Wanting cheese fries is one of the movie’s lesser-known quotes: “Whatever, I’m getting cheese fries.” Naturally, cheese fries is a Mean Girls Day tradition to some, having been mentioned by Regina herself. Some years the holiday falls on a Wednesday; this year it’s a Monday. 

But what of Wednesdays and their historical significance? Wednesday has several different names and meanings– the word originally comes from Norse mythology. Some may be familiar with Odin, the supreme god of ancient Germanic religion. He went by other names, one of which was Woden. Weekdays were named after gods, which explains how “Woden’s day” became Wednesday. Part of the reason that Wednesday is in the middle of the week was that Woden was the supreme god; central and therefore most powerful at all times. Another name given to Wednesday is Hump Day, for being the middle of the week and “over the hump” to the weekend. This is why I think it appeals so much to the youth; second only to Friday, Wednesday signals the coming of the weekend and a break from school. People of that same generation are probably also familiar with the Vine (a now-closed community website), “It’s Wednesday my dudes.” Then comes the more on-topic meaning of Wednesday. “On Wednesdays we wear pink,” is arguably the best-known Mean Girls quote. When October 3rd falls on a Wednesday, Mean Girls Day will typically have a few more participants than the norm. No matter the time period, Wednesday seems to have a special place in peoples’  hearts, whether a religious, pop-culture, or week-day reference.

En somme, enjoy your Mean Girls day!