Burning a candle at both ends

Day 56 / 365

You must have heard of the phrase — “Burning the candle at both ends”. It’s generally used to mean living life in a hectic way, being overworked. How did this phrase originate?

There are two explanations to the origins of this phrase. When the phrase was first coined in the 1700s, it meant literally lighting a candle at both of its ends, thus causing it to melt away quickly. Candles were quite valuable in both days, and they contributed a lot to the daily household expense. Thus lighting it at both ends would be a huge waste.

The other interpretation of the phrase is if you take the ‘ends’ to mean the ends of a day, instead of the candle.

Consider a person who is so overworked that he leaves his home early in the morning when it’s still dark. He works all day, and by the time he is back at home, it’s dark again. He lights a candle when he gets up in the morning, and lights another one when he gets back from work. Thus, he is burning the candle at both ends of the day.

This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here

Yesterday’s blog — Quotes from “Meditations”