Dictionary

ships that pass in the night en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• (Australia) audio

Etymology

From a poetic metaphor by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807–1882).

Meanings

1. (plural, plural-only, qualifier:simile) Two or more people who encounter one another in a transitory, incidental manner and whose relationship is without lasting significance; two or more people who almost encounter one another, but do not do so.
   • They may have passed each other in the lobby or on the elevator of the building they worked in, but as far as I know, they never had the opportunity to even say hello. They were like two ships that passed in the night. 2008, MaryRose Occhino, The Sign of the Dove, →ISBN, page 135:
   • We very seldom work together on The Archers, we're rarely in the same episodes, so often we're ships that pass in the night. 1996 January 7, Isabel Wolff, “Arts & Entertainment: How We Met—Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennett”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 19 Oct 2013:
   • [H]e sat down and we got into conversation. There wasn't time to talk much. . . . We got along famously. But—oh, well, it was just another case of ships that pass in the night. 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 4, in The Girl on the Boat:
   • At one point, Gerry McIlroy had two jobs, putting in a 100-hour week as a cleaner and barman, while his mother Rosie worked a night shift in a factory. . . . Rosie and Gerry were like ships that passed in the night. 2011 July 15, Kim Bielenberg, "18 holes with the Holywood hero," Independent (Ireland) (retrieved 19 Oct 2013)
2. (broadly, plural, plural-only) Things which have no significant connection or commonality.
   • As a connoisseur of enigmatic titles . . . the Gouldian title that gives me most pleasure is a joint paper, "Clams and brachiopods: Ships that pass in the night," in a learned journal. 2009 February 14, Richard Dawkins, "The Science Show: Interpreting Darwin's theory" (transcript of interview), abc.net.au (Australia) (retrieved 19 Oct 2013)
   • In "Episode"—the opening dance—choreography, music, performances and underlying apparent themes looked like ships passing in the night. Nothing connected until a solo danced by a prowling, sensual Christopher Bonomo. 1998 October 26, Jennifer Dunning, “In Performance: Dance”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 Oct 2013:
   • "Education and business used to be like two ships that passed in the night," said Delaware Gov. Pierre duPont. 1984, Susan C. Farkas, Changes & Challenges: City Schools in America, →ISBN, page 129:
   • Ordinarily the missionaries' religion and the slaves' religion were like two ships that pass in the night. 1999, Janet Duitsman Cornelius, Slave Missions and the Black Church in the Antebellum South, →ISBN, page 68:
   • [T]he central figures in the action seem vaguely unrelated to one another, like ships passing in the night. 1966 February 9, James Reston, “Ships Passing In The Night”, in St. Petersburg Times, retrieved 19 Oct 2013, page 14A:

Forms

wikipedia: Henry Wadsworth Longfellow