Ehsan Alipour Oct 13, 2012:

I agree dear Mr. Plaisance Jr. Thank you.

Ryan Emami Oct 12, 2012:

Thank you, Ed. It's crystal clear now.

Edward Plaisance Jr Oct 12, 2012:

let's see... Well, in this particular case, for the benefit of the asker (WJM53) we should simply say: Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday...this makes it perfectly clear which days are meant in the Iranian context.

However, "even days" is not an incorrect translation, but rather misleading in this context without further explanation.

As I said, this is where the cultural knowledge is so important. What for me is "odd" is "even" for you. :)

Ryan Emami Oct 12, 2012:

Sorry I could not participate in the discussion. Edward, now that you have understood the difference thanks to our colleagues' illuminations, do you still think we should translate this as "even day"? It matters to me very much to resolve this in my own mind at least.

Edward Plaisance Jr Oct 12, 2012:

wow... Thanks for the clarification...it really seems strange, though...Shanbe is the 1st day of the week, so it should "odd" to my way of thinking.

I guess this is an example of where cultural knowledge is very important.

Ehsan Alipour Oct 12, 2012:

In Iran, even days are: Shanbe, 2shanbe, 4Shanbe.
There is no number in Shanbe, still it is considered an even day.

Edward Plaisance Jr Oct 12, 2012:

confusion... Need some help from you guys in Iran...in looking at the Persian calendar, if we calculate "even days" like we do on the Western calendar, that is the 2nd, 4th, and 6th day of the week, and since the Persian calendar week starts on Shanbe, the "even days" would be Yekshanbe, Seshanbe, and Panjshanbe.

Now, my question is: Is this how "even days" are calculated in Iran? Or, does the "even" refer to the "even number" in the name of the day? That is, to "do" and "chahar".

Edward Plaisance Jr Oct 12, 2012:

even days... Yes we do have even and odd days in English. But they refer to different things from the Persian usage.

However, saying "even days" in English does not really clarify when the broadcasts happen. In the Persian announcement, even days should be "doshanbe" and "chaharshanbe", which would be Mondays and Wednesdays.