Word of the Week: Duvet Day

Duvet day: A day off from work, taken simply because you don't feel like going into the office. Such a day might be spent in bed, snoozing under a duvet (doo-VAY or DOO-vay).

According to Word Spy, the concept of "perks for the pooped" was invented in 1997 by British public-relations firm August.One. The public-relations consultancy Text 100¹, which is based in New York City and has offices in several countries, adopted the practice--and the term--shortly thereafter. Text 100's "careers" page includes this explanation:

In addition, we offer two personal ”duvet’ days” a year in addition to generous vacation leave. We believe people are at their best when they have the opportunity to manage their lives beyond the office.

"Duvet" and "perk" (an abbreviation of "perquisite") are imports into American English from British English; their American counterparts are "comforter" and "fringe benefit," respectively, but the UK equivalents have been very successfully transplanted to North America.²

American equivalents of "duvet day" include "mental health day" and "calling in well," which are descriptive but lack the rhyme, alliteration, and indolent associations of the British term.

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¹ Text 100 is on the passion bandwagon, according to the "careers" page: "We look for people who combine a passion for technology with an ability to work collaboratively." It's unclear what the company would do with a candidate who combined an ability for technology with a passion for working collaboratively.

² Can any reader confirm when that adoption occurred? Both words were unfamiliar to me in the 1970s, when I first heard them from speakers of British English.

Comments

[Erin]

I never knew 'duvet' until I went to Germany and slept under one, but now I have one so it is definitely in my vocabulary. :)

As for 'perk', I had no idea it came from BE; I'm sure I heard it on regular American network TV before I entered the professional world, and definitely still hear it now.

[John Russell]

The word 'duvet' appeared in England in the 1970's when we started sleeping under them as a practical alternative to sheets and blankets. I think the idea originated in Scandinavia where they are rated by their 'tog' value. [Quote... "Duvet warmth is measured by Tog ratings - the higher the tog, the warmer the duvet. Whilst 4.5 or 6 tog offers summer warmth, 15 tog offer maximum warmth."]

I'm interested to see that American's use comforters; we tend to grow out of them around the age of five or six. To we Brits, the blanket that children cling to is the main use of the word 'comforter'... perhaps I misunderstand?

[JD]

Growing up in the UK, we always referred to 'quilts' rather than 'duvets' in our family. I assumed that 'duvet' was a relatively recent Continental import. But I was wrong. Nowadays it is much more common to hear 'duvet' than 'quilt' among my friends here in London.

I don't know whether the two words ('duvet' and 'quilt') have differing social/cultural associations.

Great blog, by the way.

[Nancy Friedman]

Over here, a quilt is something very specific: two layers of (usually) cotton fabric, sometimes patched from smaller scraps ("patchwork quilt"), and stitched together (traditionally by hand, often in a community quilting bee) with a layer of batting in between for insulation and visual interest. Quilts are sometimes used for warmth, sometimes as bedspreads that are turned down for sleeping, and sometimes as art. They are nuisance to launder and take forever to dry.

A duvet is more like a giant pillow that gets fitted into a giant pillowcase, removable for washing (brilliant idea, I must say). "Duvet" is French for "down" (the soft white stuff on a duck or goose). An American "comforter" is a poufier version of a quilt and is used without the removable, washable cover.

The child's "comforter" to which John alludes is generally called a "blanket" or "blankie" here, as in the Peanuts character Linus's security blanket.

As for "growing out of" comforters, in America, we don't "grow out of" anything. See, for example, baseball caps on non-athletic 40-year-old men, capri pants on 75-year-old women, etc.