# "Administrative Assistants' Day" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 18, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357 "2002-04-18T18:36:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/1 "2002-04-18T18:36:54Z")
Did I blink and miss it? When did “Secretary’s Day” have its name changed to “Administrative Assistants’ Day”? Or is this an entirely new holiday I’m not aware of? Just curious. I don’t understand these things. ---
**Author:** ![ResIpsaLoquitor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b3f665/32.png) [@ResIpsaLoquitor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ResIpsaLoquitor)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/2 "2002-04-18T18:45:37Z")
Holy crud, I have NO idea why I put this in Cafe Society. Apologies to the Mod who has to move this. ---
**Author:** ![Eve](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Eve](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eve)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 7:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/3 "2002-04-18T19:05:59Z")
When did “Secretary’s Day” have its name changed to “Administrative Assistants’ Day”? —The same day that “used cars” became “pre-owned vehicles.” ---
**Author:** ![misshannah](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3e96dc/32.png) [@misshannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/misshannah)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/4 "2002-04-18T19:08:53Z")
Hey **Res** on my (secretarial) calendar it’s **Administrative _Professionals_ Day**. As a secretary, I must say, I think it’s all bullshit. [sub]can i say bullshit in the **cafe**?[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/5 "2002-04-18T21:04:32Z")
IANAS, and IANAAA, but I agree it’s bullshit. _Secretary_ strikes me as sounding a lot more dignified and professional than _administrative assistant_. _Secretary_ even contains the word _secret_, and suggests someone who is entrusted with grave organizational secrets, and may exercise some executive ability when their boss is away. But hey, what do I know? I also think _real estate agent_ sounds better than _realtor_ so there you are. ---
**Author:** ![Dogzilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@Dogzilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dogzilla)\ **Post date:** [April 18, 2002, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/6 "2002-04-18T21:25:58Z")
It is B.S. but nevertheless, if I don’t send flowers to my \*\* Secretary\*\* that day… her heart will be broken and none of my filing will get done for the rest of the year. It’s an excuse to show appreciation to some of the most-underappreciated professionals out there. Except mine, who is exactly like Edith Bunker. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2002, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/7 "2002-04-19T00:57:07Z")
Our secretary is a nice lady, but we do our own correspondence, our own timecards, answer our own phones, make our own travel arrangements. She scans certain outgoing documents and e-mails them to the recipients we specify. And she, um, I dunno - helps the boss, I think. I’m sure her work is valuable to him, but for the rest of engineering, she’s just the lady up front. Hard for me to care about secretary’s day. ---
**Author:** ![Citygirl852](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@Citygirl852](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Citygirl852)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/8 "2002-04-28T06:01:37Z")
My boss was out of town for secretary’s day, so I didn’t even get a card. The office of the building DID send flowers to all the AA’s for valentine’s day though, which I thought was pretty cool. As much as I hate my job though, the only thing my boss can do to make me smile is to fire me so I can collect unemployment. ---
**Author:** ![Kaitlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/73ab20/32.png) [@Kaitlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kaitlyn)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/9 "2002-04-28T06:50:46Z")
Are you sure it’s the same thing? If it is, I missed it completely. Not all secretaries are administrative assistants. The school secretary at the elementary school and the department secretary at the university English department where I work aren’t assistants to anyone in the administration. Dang it. I can’t beleive I missed it because of a stupid name change. And Administrative Professional’s day? Wouldn’t that be a day dedicated to the Administrator rather than the secretary? That makes no sense at all. ---
**Author:** ![dougie\_monty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/439d5e/32.png) [@dougie\_monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dougie_monty)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2002, 7:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/administrative-assistants-day/104357/10 "2002-04-28T07:04:40Z")
_Secretary:_ 4 syllables. _Administrative Assistant:_ 8 syllables. [sarcasm]Never say in four syllables what you can say in eight.[/sarcasm] [barb]Brevity is the soul of wit.[/barb]