English Expression: Burn the candle at both ends. Sometimes saying you’re exhausted dosn’t really express exactly how you are feeling. That’s when expressions like this one come in handy.
BURN THE CANDLE AT BOTH ENDS
- to do a lot of work in a small amount of time.
- to work from the early morning until late in the evening.
- I am studying and working full time, so I am really burning the candle at both ends right now.
- In Japan, it is quite normal for employees to burn the candle at both ends.
Where does it come from?
This expression was translated from French in the 1600’s. Candles were very expensive, so if someone was burning the candle from both ends, their money was dissapearing very quickly. You are being wasteful.
Now the expression had been adapted and the candle represents light. If you wake up early in the morning, the sun hasn’t come up yet and you need a candle to work. If you are still working at night then you also need to use the candle. Maybe now we are wasting our days working too much!
English Expressions
Now that you have seen English Expression: Burn the candle at both ends, take a look at our other Expression Session posts:
Expression Session: Dodge the bullet
Expression Session: Hang in there
