"Wednesday's child…"
"Wednesday's child…" is derived from a traditional nursery rhyme or poem known as "Monday's Child." The rhyme is an English-language fortune-telling verse that attributes specific characteristics to children based on the day of the week on which they were born. The original version of the rhyme, titled "Monday's Child," can be traced back to at least the 19th century.
Monday's child is fair of face,
Tuesday's child is full of grace,
Wednesday's child is full of woe,
Thursday's child has far to go,
Friday's child is loving and giving,
Saturday's child works hard for a living,
But the child born on the Sabbath Day,
Is fair and wise and good in every way.
My mother always wanted me to be a Thursday’s child, who had far to go, but my birthday fell on a Wednesday, which is probably far less attractive, despite the rhyme being purely traditional and having no basis in actual fortune-telling or factual accuracy.
Woe comes from the interjection, Old English wa! (late 12c.), a common exclamation of lament in many languages (compare Latin væ, Greek oa, German weh, Lettish wai, Old Irish fe, Welsh gwae, Armenian vay) and seems suitable in these lamentable times in which I feel and express regret for my generation overlooking important issues.