Bull week

[spanker]

Any one know why the week prior to holiday break up in the u.k was called Bull week ?
It was the week where you got as much overtime in as you could, it must have been an old terminology from some where but im not sure where it came into the mining dialect.
oss week !
Pigeon week!
Overtime week!
Grabbing week!
Holiday week!
Why Bull week?
Cmon john ,Daz it'll be everso easy.

[dazbt]

Not just used in the mining industry .............. traditionally 'Bull Week' was two weeks before a holiday when 'piece workers' would put in that bit of extra effort, work that bit harder or put in that bit more in overtime in order to earn a bit extra for the pay day immediately before the holiday week. 'Bullish' is an expression still used in the world of high finance to describe a period of rising share prices, head down and charging forward with an upward thrust .............. (I think)
akin to the old adage, Work like a Bull .......... working hard.
Just gave the term Bull Week a Google and can't believe the wording of the first answer that pops up;

"bull week
Workers on 'piece work' were paid two weeks in arrears so two weeks before a holiday they would try and make an extra piece (or pieces) an hour so that the pay packet they received before their holidays would be suitably inflated."
Courtesy of "Urban Dictionary" ...... I think they copied my answer

[John]

No idea why it was called Bull Week, but as Daz says, was used in other industries too.