order of the day

order of the day (plural orders of the day)

1. The business to be done by a body (such as a legislature) on a particular day; an agenda.
   • 1808, From the Journals of the House of Assembly of Lower Canada, during the Hart affair; Proceedings Relating to the Expulsion of Ezekiel Hart from the House of Assembly of Lower Canada

     The order of the day for the House to resolve into a Committee of the whole, to take into further consideration, the petition of Ezekiel Hart, Esquire, being read.

2. (figurative) The most significant aspect of something; what is necessary or appropriate.

   White tie and tails are the order of the day.

   • 1935 January 4, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Second State of the Union Address:

     Throughout the world, change is the order of the day.

   • 1987 July 18, Ronald Reagan, Presidential Radio Address:

     The ranks of political prisoners swelled into the thousands, and beatings, torture, and official murder became the order of the day.

   • 2016 January 7, Peter Bradshaw, “A War review – standard issue Afghan war drama”, in the Guardian‎, →ISSN:

     Standard-issue liberal guilt and hand-wringingly uninteresting dilemmas are the order of the day, with no real surprises or challenges.

   • 2023 February 8, Greg Morse, “Crossing the border... by Sleeper”, in RAIL, number 976, page 42:

     I'm not in the mood for whisky, nor beer. Something soft would be sensible, but I decide that wine is the order of the day - a sauvignon blanc, which I take with a few olives.

3. (military) The general directive of a commander in chief or the specific instructions of a commanding officer.

• order of business