Week start - Sunday or Monday?

[faraday]

I wonder what opinions others have about the layout of weekdays in their calendars and diaries. I like mine to have a Monday start. This is in line with the standard ISO 8601, which defines the week as Monday to Saturday, Monday being Day 1. (There is much else besides).

This standard was adopted in Europe in 1992, and all the diaries I have bought since then have a Monday start. Calendars seem to be much more varied; many still have a Sunday start. I won't buy one because of the confusion that results from mixed week starts visible when one of each is hung up.

I understand that for Christians and Jews the week goes from Sunday to Saturday, although they differ on which day is the Sabbath. I wonder what diaries and calendars the Church of England and Roman Catholic bishops and priests use. Perhaps some would let us know.

Finally, a very useful web site on the subject is www.merlyn.demon.co.uk/weekinfo.htm. There are many more that can be accessed via Google.

[faraday]

I should have written that the standard ISO 8601 defines the week as Monday to Sunday, or course. I did not intend to shorten the week!

[CT]

If this helps, the days of the week are named after celestial objects that were seen to move across the skies.
Sunday - Sun
Monday(Lundi) - Moon(Luna)
Tuesday(Mardi) - (Mars)
Wednesday(Mercredi) - (Mercury)
Thursday(Jeudi) - (Jupiter)
Friday(Vendredi) - (Venus)
Saturday - Saturn

Don't know if the they match any better in other languages, but this is the best i've got. Some of the English days of the week are named after Norse gods and that throws it off a bit.

[jno]

not sure if Christians always see Sunday as the start of the week; it was on the seventh day that God rested. More devout people than I may be able to correct me.

[bernardo]

I have always thought of Saturday as being the first day of the week. I think it's because that's how it's done in Radio Times.

[Hippy]

Several companies in the transport industry have Saturday as the first day of the week. This is because the timetables are sparser on Saturday mornings than Monday to Friday, and it can cater for minimum rest periods (8 hours) between late weeks and early weeks.

Now you are going to say that journeys are even sparser on Sunday mornings, but consider that there are fewer drivers off duty on Saturday than any other day, and so for scheduling normal working days (ignoring overtime) the shift changeover is much more efficient when done on Friday night / Saturday morning.

[AliFlump]

I always think of monday as the start of a week cos that when i go back to work. Ive just got a new diary and it does Sunday to Saturday, that seems *********** to me!!!

[AliFlump]

That word was ment to be p1sspotical (thats not a rude word is it?)

[Loosehead]

Sunday is the first day of the week, named after the primary heavenly body as correctly pointed out by CT

[Robert G]

But is this news?

Maybe we need a few more Topics in the list?

[ludwig]

Monday is the first day. That's why Saturday and Sunday are called the weekend.

[Lonnie]

I prefer Sunday as the first day, purely because my working week starts on a Sunday, but as jno says, God rested on the seventh day, this was before people were created, so who knows what the real seventh day is.

[brachiopod]

In my diary, I would like the working week to start on Tuesday and finish on Thursday. The 'weekend' is Friday to Monday.

I would also like to be paid the same as present, please.

[faraday]

In reply to CT I looked up the days of the week in German. Wednesday is given as Mittwoch (mid week of course) in a list that starts on our Monday, whereas Wednesday is the exact midweek with a Sunday start.

I expect most people think of Wednesday as the midweek whatever the standard says.

I do hope we can get a response from the clergy, or a bishop's secretary.

[jno]

lonnie I believe people were created on the sixth day, which is why God needed to take the next day off. This would explain our natural love of Saturdays: they're our birthdays.

[claireyfairy]

to confuse things even more, the working week where i work is actually friday to thursday!!!!

[Stu in USA]

FYI ; If you buy a calendar in the USA the week starts on a Sunday. So blame the Yanks.