{"id":3259,"date":"2022-05-03T18:08:16","date_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=3259"},"modified":"2022-05-03T18:08:16","modified_gmt":"2022-05-03T18:08:16","slug":"ships-passing-in-the-night-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/ships-passing-in-the-night-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Ships Passing in the Night \u2013 Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a saying to describe a brief meeting or moment with another person you\u2019ll never see again? If so, you could use the phrase, \u201c<em>ships passing in the night<\/em>.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The expression \u201c<em>ships passing in the night<\/em>\u201d refers to a chance, a brief encounter with another person you\u2019ll probably never see again.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The phrase usually refers to sexual antics, but it can refer to an engagement with another person where you feel like you want to see them again, but that won\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n<p>The saying also frequently appears as \u201c<em>two ships passing in the night<\/em>.\u201d You can use it to describe meeting people at any public venue, such as a bar, club, or theater.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cI was at the bar last night and hooked up with this girl. She was amazing, but she\u2019s on a flight back to France this morning, and I\u2019m never going to see her again. She wouldn\u2019t give me her number. We were like two ships passing in the night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHave you ever met someone special and never seen them again? It\u2019s like you\u2019re two ships passing in the night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLast night was like a whirlwind. I met that guy and had a great time, but now he\u2019s gone, and I don\u2019t know how to get hold of him. It\u2019s like we were two ships passing in the night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s no way to find her again. It\u2019s like we were two ships passing in the night. Why do the good ones always get away?\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTim met this amazing guy last night, but he didn\u2019t get his number. Now he\u2019s upset that he\u2019ll never see him again. They were like two ships passing in the night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-3260\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Ships-Passing-in-the-Night.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"227\" height=\"149\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-3261\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/Ships-Passing-in-the-Night2.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"162\" height=\"152\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The origin of the expression \u201cships passing at night\u201d dates back at least 150-years. It\u2019s a maritime saying, first used by sailors to describe interactions between ships at sea.<\/p>\n<p>The first appearance of the phrase is in \u201cTales of a Wayside Inn,\u201d by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, published in 1863, where it reads as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShips that pass in the night, and speak [to] each other in passing, Only a signal shown and a distant voice in the darkness; So on the ocean of life, we pass and speak one another, Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"expression \u201cships that pass in the night\u201d explained = Henry Wadsworth Longfellow poem (Wayside Inn)\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/x4FRzTgpdP4?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Ships Passing in the Night<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>One night stand.<\/li>\n<li>Brief encounter.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Ships Passing in the Night<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>We\u2019re in a long-term relationship.<\/li>\n<li>We spent hours together and we\u2019re meeting again.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Ships passing in the night.<\/li>\n<li>Like two ships passing in the night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Ships Passing in the Night Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>Some people may use the phrase to refer to ships out on the water. While this use of the saying is technically correct, it\u2019s not the purpose or meaning of the expression. The phrase refers to people and relationships, not boats.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Ships Passing in the Night<\/h2>\n<p>You can use the phrase \u201cships in the passing night\u201d when you describe meeting someone briefly, only to never see them again. The term can refer to friendships, acquaintances, or romantic relationships.<\/p>\n<p>For instance, you could use it to describe how you met someone last night and fell in love, but you never got their number, and now there\u2019s little chance of you ever seeing them again.<\/p>\n<p>In most cases, the saying refers to a short engagement between two people, with no prospect of seeing the person again after you break contact with them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a saying to describe a brief meeting or moment with another person you\u2019ll never see again? If so, you could use the phrase, \u201cships passing in the night.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning The expression \u201cships passing in the night\u201d refers to a chance, a [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3259"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3326,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3259\/revisions\/3326"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3259"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3259"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3259"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}