Case of the Mondays

About

To have a Case of the Mondays is to be in a bad mood on Monday due to the work- or school-week beginning.

Origin

The line was originally spoken in the 1999 film Office Space, in a scene where main character Peter Gibbons is talking about how he can’t be in the office because it’s making him too upset. A female temp worker comes up behind him as he’s talking and says, “Uh oh. It looks like somebody’s got a case of the Mondays” in a childish and rude tone.^[1]

The term was first defined on Urban Dictionary in 2004,^[2] but evidence suggests that online usage far predates that origin; The first documented use on Usenet was in 2000, less than a year after the film’s original release.^[3]

Spread

The quote has been in use since the early days of online communities; for instance, there are 902 results for the phrase within Usenet.^[3] A search for the term returns thousands of results on Reddit, where the phrase is traditionally paired with a photo or story explaining why the work of the day is unwanted, including 5 that have 1000 or more upvotes.^[4] Several of these are albums for pornography, indicating that the phrase is used to indicate that people will see something inside that might “cheer them up.” Another common joke is to indicate that if there were a beer named Mondays, everyone would want to have a case of it.

In 2012, a band called “A Case of the Mondays” released their first record.^[5] In addition, four people on Soundcloud make music under this name ^[6]

The phrase is also available on several consumer goods, including eCards and posters.^[7]^[8]