Hump Day is a North American slang term for Wednesday, the middle day of the workweek, framed as the "hump" you climb before the weekend starts.

Where did Hump Day come from?

The phrase became an internet catchphrase in 2013 when Geico aired a TV commercial featuring a camel named Caleb walking through an office asking coworkers to guess what day it was.

What does Hump Day mean?

It refers to Wednesday as the peak of a five-day workweek. Camels became the visual shorthand for the phrase because of their literal humps, which is what Geico's 2013 ad played on.

How do you use Hump Day?

People post camel photos, GIFs, or the Geico "Guess what day it is?" audio clip on Wednesday mornings to mark the midweek point.

Is Hump Day still popular?

The Geico ad and its catchphrase still get shared as Wednesday shorthand online, though the peak viral moment was in 2013 and the years right after.

Hump Day

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Published August 29, 2026

"Hump Day" is North American slang for Wednesday, the midpoint of the workweek. The phrase went from office small talk to internet catchphrase in 2013 when Geico's TV commercial featured a camel named Caleb strolling through a cubicle farm asking, "Guess what day it is?" and spawned years of YouTube parodies and Wednesday-morning posts.

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Overview

Hump Day treats Wednesday as the peak of a five-day workweek, so once you clear it, the slide down to the weekend feels shorter7. Camels became the visual shorthand for the phrase thanks to their humps, which is why Geico's 2013 spot with Caleb the camel turned into the definitive Hump Day image2. Online, the phrase usually shows up in office group chats, radio bits, and social posts on Wednesday mornings, often paired with a camel GIF or a "Guess what day it is?" callback4.

The idea of a midweek breather is not new. Sweden and other Nordic countries observe "lillördag," or "little Saturday," a Wednesday tradition where bars stay open later and colleagues meet for dinners and drinks to push through to Friday1.

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Origin & Background

Platform

TV commercial (Geico) / YouTube (viral spread)

Creator

Geico

Date

2013

The slang is North American in origin4. Web usage predates the viral 2013 moment: on December 6th, 2009, YouTuber Manic Turtle uploaded a short office video titled "Cubing Out: Hump Day" that later collected more than 10,000 views3.

The catchphrase turned into a full-blown internet moment on April 30th, 2013, when Geico aired a 30-second TV spot titled "Hump Day." In the ad, a camel named Caleb wanders through a cubicle farm shouting "Guess what day it is? Guess what day it is!" at annoyed coworkers until one finally answers back, "Hump day!" A June 4th, 2013 reupload of the ad by SubscribeFor NewsAlerts drew over 6.8 million views on YouTube2.

How It Spread

The Geico ad went viral on YouTube through the summer of 2013 and hit millions of views before the network pulled the original upload2. Tumblr users had already been running the phrase as a double-entendre joke months earlier, including a February 20th, 2013 post by accomicsguy-blog that picked up more than 300 notes4.

Parody uploads followed almost immediately. YouTuber David Daikeler posted a remake on August 6th, 2013 that pulled in around 57,000 views5, and more Hump Day videos kept surfacing in the years after, including one from Cherise Addison on March 12th, 2017 that reached roughly 73,000 views6.

The underlying midweek-celebration idea has real-world roots too. Swedish workers still meet up on Wednesday nights for lillördag drinks and dinners, a tradition that stretches back to when household staff had Wednesdays off instead of Saturdays1.

How to Use This Meme

Typical Hump Day posts land on Wednesday mornings, usually a camel photo or GIF, or the Geico "Guess what day it is?" audio clip, paired with a caption about surviving the midweek slog2. Office group chats, radio hosts, and teachers commonly use the phrase as a Wednesday greeting or a lead-in to weekend plans7.