When is Opposite Day? What day is it in 2022, is it really national Opposite Day today - and how to celebrate

It’s the day on which everything we know to be true is flipped on its head

(Photo: Getty Images)(Photo: Getty Images)
(Photo: Getty Images)

Maybe it’s a game you may remember playing from childhood, or perhaps it’s simply an annoying quirk your own children regale you with on the regular.

Opposite Day.

It is a mythical day on which everything we know to be true is tipped upside down.

But it may surprise you to learn that Opposite Day is actually celebrated “officially” on a certain day.

And that day is today.

Here is everything you need to know about it.

When is Opposite Day?

According to NationalToday.com, most “experts” agree that Opposite Day is observed on 25 January.

That date is heavily disputed though, with “other experts” claiming it is actually celebrated on 7 January, while others still believe that it is to be celebrated every month of the year on the 25th day.

Of course, if you are so inclined, you can play along with the game on any day you wish, something which is sure to make you popular with your friends.

What happens on Opposite Day?

In a classic episode of Seinfeld, George realises his life has gone nowhere and decides to do the opposite of whatever he would typically be doing, becoming an active, sincere and honest person (Photo: Columbia Pictures Television)In a classic episode of Seinfeld, George realises his life has gone nowhere and decides to do the opposite of whatever he would typically be doing, becoming an active, sincere and honest person (Photo: Columbia Pictures Television)
In a classic episode of Seinfeld, George realises his life has gone nowhere and decides to do the opposite of whatever he would typically be doing, becoming an active, sincere and honest person (Photo: Columbia Pictures Television)

Opposite Day is “celebrated” by children and big kids alike by doing and saying the opposite of what they would on a normal day.

Children often compliment one another, before revealing the recipient of the kind words that it is in fact Opposite Day, therefore their original compliment is reversed into an insult.

A slightly kinder take on this, is to brutally insult somebody, before reminding them of the power of Opposite Day, flipping a savage roasting into a showering of kind words.

NationalToday.com also recommends a number of “fun” ideas that are sure to have you in the good books of everybody you come across on Opposite Day.

They recommend calling in sick for work, but showing up anyway in order to “confuse” your boss; they assure would-be pranksters that they “shouldn’t” lose their job for this one, “nor should you lose one of your sick days.”

A slightly less risky approach would be to say goodbye when greeting people: the confusion on their faces will be “worth it”, says the website.

Pairing this technique with the faux sick day prank will only make things “better” it says.

Is it really Opposite Day?

Far from just being an annoying game for children (although of course, it is that), Opposite Day also presents a poignant philosophical paradox for young minds to ponder.

For if you declare 25 January to be Opposite Day, it must not, in fact, be Opposite Day, because the opposite of Opposite Day is a normal day.

So is it actually Opposite Day?

One for your tiny minds to ponder. It should get them to be quite for a few minutes, at least.

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