"to call it a day" / "Let's call it a day"

Meaning: to stop working for the day; to end work or a particular activity for the rest of the day

Why does it mean that?

"To call something" in this way means to declare or announce that something is over or stopped. For example, "They called the baseball game because of the rain." So, in this example, they canceled or stopped the baseball game because it was raining.

So, when we say, "Let's call it a day.", we are declaring that we should stop working or doing something for the day.

When do we use it?

We can use this after we have finished all our work.

• We have finished everything. Let's call it a day.

We can also use this when we are tired and just want to stop working.

• We will never finish all of this today. Let's call it a day and finish the rest of the work tomorrow.
• I'm tired. I am going to call it a day.

How do we use it?

We often use this expression by itself.

• Let's call it a day.
• We are all tired. Let's call it a day.

We can also use it with other clauses.

• Let's call it a day after we finish this.

We can also use "call it a day" with other sentences.

• I want to call it a day.
• I will call it a day right after I finish this report.

The more English idioms and expressions that you know, the easier it will be for you to have conversation in English. If you study these free English lessons about commonly used English expressions and idioms consistently, then over time you will build a solid English vocabulary that will help you speak English fluently.