Black Friday , what an aweful term

[blues90]

I tried to look up when and why this day was named in such a manner but I got no real answer , I did get plenty of sales news , the when aand where's to buy crap .

I must say I never have shopped on the day after thanksgiving and never will .

With a title such as black friday you would think people would stay home , sounds like a huge billow of exhaust smoke let out by cars to me .

[Rex]

1. Can't spend what I don't have.

[WolverineDG]

2. Because the sales on this day alone

are enough to put retailers' sales in the black.

dg

[Demobrat]

3. It's the day retailers go into the black for the year.

They hope.

[demnan]

4. Black Friday is named so because that's

when businesses supposedly go from being in the red (in debt) to being in the black (making money). I don't see how you can run a business on one and an half months of sales for the year, but that's why its called Black Friday.

[glowing]

12. You take out your loans to buy the merchandise or to be put on a credit

system... This is when you have enough to pay those back...

[Kutjara]

5. It puzzles me, too.

Usually, the word "black" placed before a period of time connotes some big disaster. "Black Monday" was when the Stock Market collapsed back in the 80s. "Black September" was the Palestinian group responsible for the Munich Olympic massacre.

Seems a bit much to call an overhyped shopping day "Black Friday."

[SCRUBDASHRUB]

6. I had to work today, but even if I had off, I wouldn't go near a store today.

[Kutjara]

13. Me neither.

I usually avoid stores altogether between now an the middle of January. I do my Christmas shopping online and avoid the mall like the plague. I've reached my lifetime saturation point of syrupy Christmas music and false cheer. I'm about one muzaked-up rendition of "Oh Come All Ye Faithful" from buying an Uzi and spreading some Christmas spirit of my own.

[TomInTib]

25. I am in a store right now.

But it's mine.

[Kutjara]

33. So you can at least lock the door...

...an put up a huge "BAH HUMBUG" sign in the window if you want. That would just about make the season bearable for me.

[durrrty libby]

7. It's a perfectly logical name. debt v profit

[babylonsister]

8. My dad told me it's the day retail wants to go 'into the black' vs. red. nt

[treestar]

9. I've never shopped on it, because

I consider it one of the most relaxing days of the year. You're right in the middle of a good, long weekend. No way would I wreck that with a trip to the mall!

[aquart]

10. Retailers work their asses off all year. (As opposed to sitting on them, cuberats)

But don't have anything to show for it until Black Friday.

So go right ahead and boycott them. Why should a retailer eat as well as you.

[blues90]

15. I'm not against independent retailers , I am against the box stores

I choose not to buy because I choose not to be a consumer of crap I don't need . Besides I don't eat better with what I have in my wallet .

I doubt I have any affect of the black friday tallies .

[rucky]

35. Thank you.

It's 10:53 pm, and my wife just got home from her shop after an 8am opening. It's exhausting. It wasn't door-busters, but we did okay.

[glowing]

11. Its the time of year where retail stores go from red to black in their

accounting books... That is why it is coined Black Friday.. Its and economic term used in accounting.. No one wants to be in the Red... Believe me though, I believe Walmart is in the Black most of the given year as well as most big stores... But for small, mainstreet.. it is supposed to put them over the hump. That's why its important to hit the small businesses on mainstreet and stay away from the big department stores.

[Sarah Ibarruri]

14. I guess it refers to being "in the black" as opposed to "in the red" (bookkeeping term) nt

[aikoaiko]

16. Do you not like the word Black or Friday?

You admit you don't understand the phrase "Black Friday", but yet you find it to be an "aweful term".

Is it the word Black or Friday that bothers you?

[blues90]

21. It's not the words on their own

It's the combination and it refers to shopping madness . Pretty simple . It's not that I don't understand the term I was trying to find out when the term became the term .

[aikoaiko]

22. It doesn't refer to shopping madness. The shopping frenzy is related though

[blues90]

24. I am aware of that .

[LeftyMom]

17. It's the day stores expect to gain profitability for the year (black ink, rather than red)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Friday_%28shopping%29

[nonconformist]

18. I worked retail for years... it's named Black Friday because it's traditionally the day retailers

finally turn a profit - they go from "in the red" (debt) to "in the black" (profit)

[nightrider767]

19. I had a big hangover this morning

So I stayed home and saved a ton of money. Wasn't a complete success as my wife did make it out.

Course I can't claim any noble status in this. I freaking hate shopping.

[cureautismnow]

20. Steely Dan used it in song in 1975.

Black Friday

When Black Friday comes
I'll stand down by the door
And catch the grey men when they
Dive from the fourteenth floor
When Black Friday comes
I'll collect everything I'm owed
And before my friends find out
I'll be on the road
When Black Friday falls you know it's got to be
Don't let it fall on me
When Black Friday comes
I'll fly down to Muswellbrook
Gonna strike all the big red words
From my little black book
Gonna do just what I please
Gonna wear no socks and shoes
With nothing to do but feed
All the kangaroos
When Black Friday comes I'll be on that hill
You know I will

When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna dig myself a hole
Gonna lay down in it 'til
I satisfy my soul
Gonna let the world pass by me
The Archbishop's gonna sanctify me
And if he don't come across
I'm gonna let it roll
When Black Friday comes
I'm gonna stake my claim
I'll guess I'll change my name
-------------------------------------------------

In this context, it wasn't exactly a walk in the park for those heavily invested in the stock market!

[riverdale]

36. Megadeth had their version as well

No holiday cheer in that one at all :)



I lurk in the alley wait for the kill
I have no remorse for the blood that I spill
A merciless butcher who lives underground
I'm out to destroy and I will cut you down
I see you and I'm waiting for Black Friday
Turn me loose!

Killer, intruder, homicidal man
If you see me coming run as fast as you can
A blood-thirsty demon who's stalking the street
I hack up my victims like pieces of meat

Blood-thirsty demon, sinister fiend
Bludgeonous slaughter's my evil deed A merciless butcher who lives underground
I'm out to destroy you and I will cut you down

It's Black Friday, paint the devil on the wall

[valerief]

23. The first time I heard the expression I figured it was another

below-the-belt racist term derived from Robinson Crusoe. They could have named the Friday something else, like Shoppers' Friday or Retailers' Friday. But they didn't. Of course.

[sandnsea]

26. Indication of our failing schools

Black and red are bookkeeping terms that used to be more common to know than green and red as traffic signals. Being offended over the colors of ink used in accounting is absolutely ridiculous.

[blues90]

29. You missed the entire point

It's not about the color of ink , it's the term Black Friday . If this term is appealing to you than so be it , it is not appealing to me . It sounds like the Black Plague . It may be a book keeping term but to relate it to and tie it around the necks of the holidays is a bit twisted , it's like calling as they did in the old days an auto repairman a grease monkey . Shop talk garbage .

[sandnsea]

31. You are the one thinking that way

If you think there's something peculiar about the term "Black Friday", then that says where YOUR mind is at, not everybody elses. That's the point. And to not know basic bookkeeping terms, well that indicates how out of touch young people are with the daily routines of business and making a living.

[blues90]

34. Your are right , that 's where my mind is at , and what's wrong with that ?

I have no intent to change anyones mind here , I never implied it was or should be anyone elses , that was not my point , it's my personal opinion . I don't see why it bothers you so much unless you are a book keeper and are offended in some manner . The world does not revolve around book keeping , without the labor behind the products there would be no book keepers or Black and red ink in the books . The title of my post tells all , there is an ignore button or the free will to pass the post all together .

I am not by a long shot young , nore do i give a rotten crap about the color of ink , that's not the point either , it is the term applied and the connected relation the term Black Friday has become . It's SHOP talk and nothing more as if business principals over rides everything .

I would not shop on any friday that was called Black Friday simply because it has a sour sound to it .

[alarimer]

39. Well I always thought it was like the Black Plague too!

A good day to stay AWAY from stores. In any case, it is certainly like that for me, back when I worked in retail. It was the worst day of the year and, of course, I always had to work. God, I hate dealing with the public; so many assholes, so little I could say to them.

So, yes, when I was in retail, it was a day like the Black Plague! One to be dreaded and feared.

[Tuesday Afternoon]

27. out of the red, into black. Accounting lingo.

The day the books quit bleeding.

[Captain_Nemo]

28. I first heard it last year. I figured corporations invented it to "spin" the shopping day because

predictions were that it was going to be a bad season. I found it to be quite Orwellian; the threw the phrase out there. all of a sudden everyone started using it. and now it seems as if the phrase has always been with us.

[nonconformist]

32. It's been widely used for many years. nt

[Captain_Nemo]

42. Wow, amazing. I guess I don't watch MSM....and neither do my friends. I must expand my circle.

[lynne]

30. Black Friday is the day retailers go out of the red and into the black financially -

- it's the day that they finally make a profit for the year. Just an accounting term.

[illinoisprogressive]

37. Never shopped on black friday. I stay away from stores on this day.

[tammywammy]

38. Me either, I don't like crowds of people

Plus, I rarely go to the mall in general.

I did buy a Red Bull and pack of cigs today. Does that count?

[pinniped]

40. Red Friday seems more appropriate.

.

[MadBadger]

41. Considering one of the worst days in American History is Black Tuesday...

Youd think a day full of shopping with the family would be named something different.

[Captain_Nemo]

43. Today on NPR they discussed it. It was an insider term until two years ago.