el sábado, sabadete, camisa nueva y polvete

Spanish

Etymology

Literally, “Saturday, Saturday, new shirt and powder”. Traditionally, before the days of washing machines, men would wash their shirt only once a week (Saturday). The polvete (powder) refers to the talcum powder used to clean the shirt. The word sabadete may have originally been a nonce word coined in order to rhyme with polvete.

Over the years, polvo has acquired a slang meaning of sexual intercourse, so the phrase has come to carry connotations of weekend sexual liaisons.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /el ˌsabado | sabaˌdete | kaˌmisa ˌnweba i polˈbete/ [el ˌsa.β̞a.ð̞o | sa.β̞aˌð̞e.t̪e | kaˌmi.sa ˌnwe.β̞a i polˈβ̞e.t̪e]
• Syllabification: el sá‧ba‧do, sa‧ba‧de‧te, ca‧mi‧sa nue‧va y pol‧ve‧te

Phrase

el sábado, sabadete, camisa nueva y polvete

1. (idiomatic, Spain) a phrase used to show excitement about the day being Saturday; thank God it's the weekend