There are many idiomatic expressions with the word ‘day’. Here are some of the expressions: to have had its day, make someone’s day, day in and day out, have seen better days, and call it a day.
The expression ‘to have had its day’ refers to something which is much less popular now than before or which is no longer useful or successful. The synonyms of the idiomatic expression are: be obsolete, be dated, be out of date and be old-fashioned.
Look at these examples:
Bell-bottoms that have had their day have made a style comeback.
Though the fountain pen has had its day, I am fond of using it.
‘To have had its day’ is different in meaning from ‘to have its day’, which means ‘to taste success or experience prosperity’. The proverb Every dog has its day implies that every person will have success at some point in their lives. Shakespeare used the expression in his play Hamlet written in 1603:
Let Hercules himself do what he may,
The cat will mew and dog will have his day.
The idiom ‘to have one’s day in court’ means ‘to get an opportunity to give one’s opinion on something or to explain one’s actions’.
You have been criticised unfairly by your boss. I am sure soon you will have your day in court.
— The politician had her day in court when she was interviewed by the TV news channel.
The expression ‘to make someone’s day’ means ‘to make someone feel very happy and special’.
Spending the day in the orphanage made my day.
In many ways you can make someone’s day.
The idiom ‘day in and day out’ is used to express something, especially a boring activity, that is happening every day for a long period of time.
Some students complain that they have to attend boring lectures day in and day out.
To get our hard-earned money we have to stand in long queues day in and day out.
When someone is not in good condition as they used to be, they use
the expression ‘I/We have seen better days’.
Now we don’t have access to our own money. We have seen better days.
Our forefathers have seen better days. They didn’t suffer from these modern-day diseases.
A few days ago, I came across a poster with this message: I’m just going to put an ‘Out of Order’ sticker on my forehead and call it a day. ‘To call it a day’ means ‘to end the day’s work’. ‘Let’s call it a day’ is used to suggests that it is time to stop working on something. Look at these examples:
We haven’t completed the report yet. We are all tired. Let’s call it a day.
It’s past nine o’clock. Let’s call it a day.
Dr Albert P’ Rayan is an ELT Resource Person and Professor of English. He can be contacted at rayanal@yahoo.co.uk