Have you ever said the words. “Last night I was burning the midnight oil”?
Burning the midnight oil, or to burn the midnight oil, means to work late into the night. It involves doing something that requires effort, concentration, and often a deadline that can’t be missed.
Imagine the scene.
Picture someone bent over a desk long after the rest of the household has gone to bed. The laptop is open, a clock ticking away into the night. It’s late, and you are determined to finish what you started, maybe hours before. So determined it outweighs the fatigue that is beginning to make you sleepy. It is something I have done; the hours seem to fly by once you convince yourself that you are nearly there and the end is in sight.
It might be a work project. The student might have an essay to write, or an exam approaching. If you are a writer, it is typically an article, story, or chapter that you want to finish. Whether it’s for work, studying, or writing, the decision to keep going late into the night suggests an important task.
Something that you want to see finished.
The determination needed can lead to admiration. “She’s been burning the midnight oil to finish her novel.”
Or a little concern. “You can’t keep burning the midnight oil every night. It’s not good for you.”
And burning the midnight oil can take its toll as the hours tick by. That advice telling you of the importance of getting eight hours of sleep is regularly put to one side. You look at the clock, and it’s two in the morning, and yet you know that you have to be at work by nine.
You will be lucky to get five hours’ sleep.
It speaks of dedication.
Where Did It Come From?
It’s a phrase that dates back before electricity provided light for our home and office. It was a time when candles or oil lamps were the only way to see after dark. They quite literally had to burn oil to see what they were doing.
The English poet Francis Quarles may have been the first, when in 1635 in the work Emblemes, he wrote of scholars who “burn the midnight oil”.
But it wasn’t written that way. He wrote:
“Elucubrate, to doe a thing by candlelight.” Back then, ‘elucubrate’ was the verb for working late by candlelight. It is one of those old English words no longer in use.
But the expression was already associated with study and intellectual effort. Learning through long hours of reading by lamplight was often the norm in many professions. It was common practice for scholars, clergy, lawyers, and writers.
By the 19th century, it was part of everyday English.
What It Doesn’t Mean
I have occasionally stayed up late watching a film or videos on YouTube, maybe even reading a book. The hours passed, but burning the midnight oil implies purposeful work. Binge-watching television, or doom-scrolling on social media, doesn’t count.
The idiom does not simply mean staying up late.
There is also something poetic about burning the midnight oil. It pictures the solitary scholar, the struggling author, or the student preparing for examinations. Or it just might be that your job requires it. What you are doing suggests commitment and even sacrifice. Sometimes there will be a reward for all the hard effort put in. Other times, nothing.
In modern life, artificial light turns night into day at the flick of a switch. Burning the midnight oil is easier than to do now, but different. Deadlines often stretch beyond the traditional working day. What was once a necessity for scholars has become commonplace for many. It is something that is expected if you want to get on in life.
And We Still Say It
Even though most of us no longer have to use oil lamps, we instinctively understand the metaphor. The night is a time when we rest, but the modern world has changed that.
I once had a temporary job working a night shift. It was quite common to hear from those working late, “Another night burning the midnight oil.” Strictly speaking, we weren’t. We were doing a job of work; our world and working hours were turned upside down by the night shift. But, burning the midnight oil seemed to describe our life well.
There is, perhaps, something timeless about striving while others sleep. Society tells us that hard work is admirable, but rest has its place too. Like many idioms, it also comes with a warning. It cautions us that what we are doing might not be good for us — if we overdo it.
So the next time you find yourself working late into the night, you are keeping alive a phrase that has survived in the English language for nearly four centuries.
Just remember to trim the wick now and then, though.
Image by flavioflavio from Pixabay
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