Language desk
< November 16	<< Oct \| November \| Dec >>	November 18 >

Welcome to the Wikipedia Language Reference Desk Archives
The page you are currently viewing is an archive page. While you can leave answers for any questions shown below, please ask new questions on one of the current reference desk pages.

November 17[edit]

San Juan Wednesday[edit]

I'm learning all kinds of new phrases this week apparently. First "cash wrap" and now possibly "San Juan Wednesday". I just had a customer wish me a great one. Google seems unfamiliar with the phrase, either with quotes or without. Most results just gave me ideas for what to do at night in San Juan. The customer is in New Mexico and I'm in Vermont, so I'm not sure if it's a regional thing or what. Any ideas? †dismas†|^(talk) 00:05, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I tried searching for "Miércoles San Juan" and variations thereof. The best I can find is Ash Wednesday celebrations in San Juan, Puerto Rico, which doesn't make sense in the context of your recent conversation. Maybe you mis-heard part of it? --Jayron 32 02:41, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

It was written in an email, so I couldn't have misheard it. He doesn't like the answer that I'm giving him, so I don't know if he'll be receptive to answering my off topic question. †dismas†|^(talk) 03:22, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Feast of Saint John is celebrated on the evening of the 23rd of June. That doesn't fall on midweek this year or next, though. μηδείς (talk) 04:51, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

St John Baptist is the patron saint of Oporto. His feast day is 24 June - it's a public holiday there. It's a quarter day over here, and it last fell on a Wednesday in 2015. Like Jesus, both ends of his life are commemorated - the Decollation is 29 August. That's unlikely to feature in a greeting, and it was Monday this year. The feast day of St John the Evangelist (who wrote the fourth gospel) is 27 December, which will fall on Wednesday in 2017. 92.8.63.27 (talk) 10:04, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Given where your customer lives, it could have something to do with Our Lady of San Juan de los Lagos - though I can't find an appropriate date link. Wymspen (talk) 10:07, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

See [1]. The dates in our article appear to be correct. 92.8.63.27 (talk) 10:43, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yeah, but this year the December 8th date will be a Thursday. --Jayron 32 13:07, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

If people celebrate John the Baptist's feast day on the previous evening maybe the celebrations start on Wednesday night? 92.8.63.27 (talk) 13:19, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The customer wished you a "great San Juan Wednesday", as in "Have a great San Juan Wednesday"? It sounds like it would be a pun or some other kind of play on words. Was it on a Wednesday that the email was sent? Could it be a typo or a lapse in thinking, resulting in something unintended? Maybe it was sent by a bot. Or spell-check might have "corrected" something to read a monstrosity that no human being could have thought of. Bus stop (talk) 13:22, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yep, the direct quote was "Have a great San Juan Wednesday!". I got the email yesterday, so yes, it was sent on a Wednesday. It was not a bot. I suppose he could have been using dictation software for his email though I have no idea how something would have been changed to that particular phrase. It was in closing to his email. †dismas†|^(talk) 18:12, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I tried speaking the words "Have a great San Juan Wednesday" to my phone's software and this is the text it produced: "Have a great send one Wednesday". So, "San Juan" may mean "send one". Bus stop (talk) 18:33, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

"Have a great send one Wednesday" is even less comprehensible than "Have a great San Juan Wednesday". -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:10, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I wasn't suggesting that "Have a great send one Wednesday" was the intended text. There could be multiple errors. Bus stop (talk) 20:30, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Is it possible the customer has no idea that you are not where he is? That is, he's assuming you are also in San Juan, and is wishing you a great Wednesday. Is San Juan particularly noted for its Wednesdays? Or is every day a great day in San Juan? -- Jack of Oz ^{[pleasantries]} 20:15, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Seems to me the most likely explanation is they meant to type "have a great Wednesday", and then meant to type "San Juan" elsewhere in the email but the cursor moved on them. That happens to me sometimes, and I catch it only 80% of the time. --Floquenbeam (talk) 20:37, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Yes, that is a common error—absentmindedly beginning to type with the cursor not correctly placed for that particular edit. And then of course failing to proofread. Bus stop (talk) 20:49, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

The Bangles - Manic Monday Bus stop (talk) 21:11, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

I'm fairly certain that the customer knows I'm not in his local area. †dismas†|^(talk) 22:49, 17 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

In the same vein as Floquenbeam's suggestion, perhaps the person did not mean to type "San Juan" at all, but accidentally hit the keys or button to paste the words. I supposed asking the person what they meant is out of the question? --76.71.5.45 (talk) 05:14, 18 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

One of the 600 people that live there? --Jayron 32 17:22, 18 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

Aren't there privacy concerns in regard to talking about this customer? --208.58.213.72 (talk) 09:00, 20 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]

But it doesn't really reveal enough information to identify a letter-writer. Bus stop (talk) 14:04, 20 November 2016 (UTC)[reply]