Skip to content

Table of Contents

The word for today is…

heyday (non, interjection) -

noun
1: the period of one's greatest popularity, vigor, or prosperity
2 archaic : high spirits

interjection
archaic
: used to express elation or wonder

Source : Merriam-Webster

Etymology : The day in heyday originally had nothing to do with the kind of day that's made up of 24 hours. Heyday was first used in the first half of the 16th century as an extended form of the interjection hey, used since the 13th century to express elation or wonder, as it still often is in phrases like "hey, look at that!" The day part was most likely just an extra syllable tagged on for effect. By the end of the 16th century heyday had developed noun use with the meaning "high spirits," as when Shakespeare's Hamlet tells his mother, "You cannot call it love; for at your age / The heyday in the blood is tame …” It wasn't until the 18th century that the day syllable's resemblance to the word day likely influenced the development of the now-familiar use referring to the period when one's achievement or popularity has reached its zenith.

If you enjoyed this Good Oil word of the day please consider sharing it with your friends and, especially, your children.

Latest

We Are Finally Waking Up

We Are Finally Waking Up

This is what late-stage institutional decay looks like. Not a dramatic collapse, but a slow, grinding loss of competence and legitimacy – where the government’s primary function shifts from solving problems to perpetuating itself.

Members Public
The US And Australia Must Lead the Minerals Race

The US And Australia Must Lead the Minerals Race

We must ensure the materials of modern life are sourced, processed, and refined under the stewardship of free nations. If not, we risk ceding the foundations of our prosperity and defense to those who would use them as leverage. The stakes are high for our economies, militaries and the free world.

Members Public