Is Tuesday Really the Best Day for Tacos?

Margarita Monday, Taco Tuesday, Wacky Wednesday, Throwback Thursday, Freaky Friday…these are just a few alliterations used by restaurants, social media, and movies. But do alliterations matter as much as we think? I’m here to find out.

The other day, a friend mentioned that it was Taco Tuesday at her house. It was Tuesday, and she was making tacos, but she made it sound like some official thing. Apparently, it was: When she was growing up, her family always ate tacos on Tuesday.

I didn’t think much of it at first. After all, I’ve heard plenty of restaurants who also feature Taco Tuesday.

But here’s the question: What if Tuesdays aren’t actually the best day for tacos?

Putting aside the fact that tacos are generally awesome on any day of the week, think about that for a second. The only reason that there are tacos on Tuesdays is the alliteration. But there’s no actual correlation between the second weekday and tacos. Beef isn’t cheaper on Tuesdays. Tortillas don’t taste better on Tuesdays. What if…bear with me here…what if Sunday is actually the best day for tacos? Or Friday?

The same goes for the other days: What if margaritas are even better on Thursdays? Could it be argued that Monday is even wackier than Wednesday and Saturday is marginally freakier than Friday? Is it possible that throwbacks are more nostalgic on Tuesday?

There’s no way to prove any of this, of course. And I do see the benefit of alliteration–it helps us remember stuff. But I would posit to you that we may rely too heavily on alliterations to make decisions about when to do certain things, as there may be an even better day for things that we ignore simply because the first letter doesn’t match.

A crazy theory, I know, but that’s why I’m here. What do you think?

3 thoughts on “Is Tuesday Really the Best Day for Tacos?”

  1. I think at least the restaurant thing is mainly due to the fact that the alteration helps people remember the event, and thus more likely to come back for it. Added to the fact that the day of the week is in the name of the event, so they don’t forget when it is.

    As for home, I have no idea. We never had a special night, but we did have special meals. My parents were very much the have dinner at the table together away from the TV, except for the rare exceptions.

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  2. Mmmm I love Taco Tuesday! But I also love Taco Monday, Wednesday, etc… I think maybe I just love tacos. 🙂

    For busy families, having a schedule of meals can be super helpful, so the added alliteration might help kids (especially picky eaters) get excited about family dinner time if they know that every Tuesday is a certain meal that they happen to love.

    Something somewhat related to Taco Tuesday is a tradition my grandma used to do every Monday for her kids (my mom, aunts, and uncles) who lived/worked in town. Every Monday during lunch time, my mom and any of her siblings who were available would stop by on their lunch breaks to catch up with each other and my grandma, and she would always have some meal (usually a casserole or lasagna type dish) prepared that she would serve and then use the rest as leftovers for herself the rest of the week. When I was a kid, I didn’t realize how special that time probably was for my grandma, but now that I’m older, I can see the value of sitting down for a regular meal to reconnect with family– even though all of her kids were grown up and had families of their own, it’s pretty neat that they still had a family dinner of sorts and knew that if they stopped by their childhood home at lunch time that my grandma would be there waiting for them and looking forward to their visit. I think my mom just called it Monday lunch, but it could easily have been Mom’s Monday Lunch to give it a bit of alliteration like Taco Tuesday.

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