# Obvious things about a creative work you realize after the millionth time (OPEN SPOILERS POSSIBLE) **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2009, 1:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117 "2009-07-24T13:20:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 335
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6687 "2025-11-11T19:00:51Z")
I assume others already know about this, but given that the original _Addams Family_ TV show came out in the mid-1960s, it took me a while to get the relevance of Wednesday’s name: > Monday’s child is fair of face, > Tuesday’s child is full of grace. > **Wednesday’s child is full of woe,** > Thursday’s child has far to go. > Friday’s child is loving and giving, > Saturday’s child works hard for a living. > But the child that is born on Sabbath day, > Is bonny and blithe, good and gay. Although [Tuesday](https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001839/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0_tt_6_nm_2_in_0_q_tuesday%2520weld) has been used as a girl’s name, presumably because it suggests “grace,” only twisted people like Gomez and Morticia would name a child Wednesday. ---
**Author:** ![Shoeless](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/shoeless/32/7099_2.png) [@Shoeless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shoeless)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6688 "2025-11-11T19:04:06Z")
If you’ve seen “Wednesday” on Netflix, you may have noticed that all of the episode titles have the word “woe” in them. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6689 "2025-11-11T19:08:19Z")
Yes, that’s one of the things that reminded me of the connection. We liked the first season, but watched the first episode of the second and weren’t grabbed by it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6690 "2025-11-11T19:10:17Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > If you’ve seen “Wednesday” on Netflix, you may have noticed that all of the episode titles have the word “woe” in them. Not just that, but Morticia even explained it. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/UkxVJKMI8rY/maxresdefault.jpg "Wednesday's Child Is Full of Woe #Wednesday") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkxVJKMI8rY) ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6691 "2025-11-11T19:25:42Z")
> [@Shoeless](#): > > If you’ve seen “Wednesday” on Netflix, you may have noticed that all of the episode titles have the word “woe” in them. Whoah! ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6692 "2025-11-11T19:28:33Z")
Also, “Wednesday” is named for the Norse god Woden. If it has already been pointed out, don’t bother reading this post. ---
**Author:** ![Saint\_Cad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/saint_cad/32/18907_2.png) [@Saint\_Cad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saint_Cad)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6693 "2025-11-11T19:31:02Z")
> [@TreacherousCretin](#): > > named for the Norse god Woden So build a bridge out of her? Or just see if she weighs the same as a duck? ---
**Author:** ![Wendell\_Wagner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/8491ac/32.png) [@Wendell\_Wagner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wendell_Wagner)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6694 "2025-11-11T19:33:15Z")
The actress Tuesday Weld was already famous when the television show started showing. Although the name of Wednesday came at least partly from the nursery rhyme (first recorded in 1838), I wonder if there was an additional source. I wonder if the show’s creators also considered it a joke on Tuesday Weld’s name. ---
**Author:** ![iamatractorboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iamatractorboy/32/21261_2.png) [@iamatractorboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamatractorboy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6695 "2025-11-11T20:49:05Z")
Well, I learned something today! ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6696 "2025-11-11T21:22:46Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I wonder if the show’s creators also considered it a joke on Tuesday Weld’s name. > for the 1964 television series, Charles Addams named Wednesday based on the Monday’s Child nursery rhyme line: “Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” Actress and poet Joan Blake, an acquaintance of Charles Addams, offered the idea for the name. From the wiki page. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6697 "2025-11-11T21:27:32Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I wonder if the show’s creators also considered it a joke on Tuesday Weld’s name I don’t think I knew about Tuesday Weld when the show came out (I was 9 years old), but by my teenage years I probably did, and that was my first guess too, because I hadn’t heard of the nursery rhyme at that point. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6698 "2025-11-11T23:06:39Z")
> [@Wendell\_Wagner](#): > > I wonder if the show’s creators also considered it a joke on Tuesday Weld’s name. If Tuesday Weld married Frederic March’s grandson, she’d be Tuesday March the Second. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6699 "2025-11-11T23:41:52Z")
Am I too hip for the room? ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2025, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6700 "2025-11-11T23:44:49Z")
You’re not hip at all, so far as I can tell. Probably shoulder, maybe two elbows, definitely wrist, but no hip. ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6701 "2025-11-12T00:26:37Z")
He’s so un-hip, it’s amazing his bum doesn’t fall off! ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6702 "2025-11-12T01:56:49Z")
That’s what the Wiki page for Wednesday Addams says, but the Addams Family page disagrees. Here’s how Linda H. Davis’ biography of Charles Addams tells it. > The year was 1963. … came a set of large cloth Addams Family dolls made by Aboriginals Ltd. A television show based on the cartoons was also in the works, and Addams was to name the dolls so that they could be tied to the series. … > > With the exception of “Wednesday” for the daughter full of woe, which Aboriginals chose, Addams named each character. The Wednesday page cites a letter Joan Blake wrote to _The New Yorker_, which was printed on July 30, 2018. > I met Addams in New York more than fifty years ago. I lived in North Carolina, but had travelled to the city for a court case involving the custody of my children. I was staying with my college roommate, and she threw a large party, which Addams attended. I was so depressed that I sat on the couch all evening. Addams sat down beside me and asked what was wrong. I told him. He took my arm, walked me to the elevator, and took me to P. J. Clarke’s. He made me laugh and told me that the Addams Family was being made into a television show, and that he had no name for the little girl. I said, “Wednesday—Wednesday’s child is full of woe.” And Wednesday became her name. Since the doll’s name preceded the series I doubt the validity of this 55-year-old memory. Memory is always more colorful than research. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 4:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6703 "2025-11-12T04:10:35Z")
> [@Saint\_Cad](#): > > So build a bridge out of her? Or just see if she weighs the same as a duck? Pronounced WOE-den, although I’m sure I’m being whooshed. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6704 "2025-11-12T13:14:03Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You’re not hip at all, so far as I can tell. Probably shoulder, maybe two elbows, definitely wrist, but no hip. I stole the joke, and the follow-up from one of the great comedy legends. I’m surprised no one here recognized it. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6705 "2025-11-12T18:19:36Z")
Not only am I hip, I’m hep. Before the internet, before computers, mashing names together like Tuesday March the Second was a huge game, with zillions of newspaper columnists making these up as well as late night hosts and _Laugh-In_. In fact, the first newspaper hit I found was from 1968, so probably stolen from _Laugh-In_. I’ve seen some attempts recently - search brings up a dozen threads here. [Including this one](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/4170). There were a couple threads devoted to the topic, but they didn’t get much traction. It’s a great game, but maybe life was just simpler in the old days. OTOH, you could create dirty name combos today that wouldn’t go public in 1968. ---
**Author:** ![Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/q.q.switcheroo/32/5713_2.png) [@Q.Q.Switcheroo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.Q.Switcheroo)\ **Post date:** [November 12, 2025, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117/6706 "2025-11-12T18:46:04Z")
> [@Exapno\_Mapcase](#): > > Not only am I hip, I’m hep. But were you hep when it was hip to be hep? [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/N7hxDaJhnYs/maxresdefault.jpg "Dave Frishberg: "I'm Hip"") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N7hxDaJhnYs) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=334) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/obvious-things-about-a-creative-work-you-realize-after-the-millionth-time-open-spoilers-possible/504117.md?page=336)