The weekend is Saturday and Sunday A "long weekend" can include Monday or Friday and must be at least 3 days long. A day off is just a day you are not working.

"A day off" is any day you are not working. "The weekend" means Saturday and Sunday. If Friday or Monday is also a day off for most of the people you know or work with, then it is a "three-day weekend" or "long weekend" or "Columbus Day weekend" or "Labor Day weekend." Examples: "We're going to see the fall foliage on Columbus Day weekend, would you like to come with us?" "I'd love to, but I work at a mutual fund company, and we don't get Columbus Day off because the stock market is open that day." "When I was a kid, Columbus Day was always celebrated on October 12th, but in 1971 they passed a law to move it to a designated Monday so that everybody could get a three-day weekend." "May I take Wednesday as a day off? I have three personal days left this year."