How Geico Came to Own Wednesday

Unless you're a follower of the Germanic god Woden, for which it is named, you probably don't give Wednesdays much thought. Falling smack in the middle of the workday, Wednesday is often a day more endured than enjoyed. Even the folk rhyme "Monday's Child" noted that "Wednesday's child is full of woe."

It is for such reasons that Wednesday is known as "Hump Day." According to Google Ngram, the term was obscure until 1990 or so and then really shot up in popularity in the early 2000s. No one's sure exactly what caused the surgeOne theory is that Parliament's 1977 hit "Bop Gun," with its refrain "We got to get over the hump" became an earworm for many during the middle of the week Read more...