ships that pass in the night

English

Alternative forms

• ships in the night
• ships passing in the night
• ships that passed in the night

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU)

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Noun

ships that pass in the night pl (plural only)

1. (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.
   • 1922, P. G. Wodehouse, chapter 4, in The Girl on the Boat:

     [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.

   • 1996 January 7, Isabel Wolff, “Arts & Entertainment: How We Met—Charles Collingwood and Judy Bennett”, in The Independent, UK, retrieved 19 October 2013:

     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.

   • 2008, MaryRose Occhino, The Sign of the Dove, →ISBN, page 135:

     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.

   • 2011 July 15, Kim Bielenberg, "18 holes with the Holywood hero," Independent (Ireland) (retrieved 19 Oct 2013):

     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.

2. (by extension) Things which have no significant connection or commonality.
   • 1966 February 9, James Reston, “Ships Passing In The Night”, in St. Petersburg Times, retrieved 19 October 2013, page 14A:

     [T]he central figures in the action seem vaguely unrelated to one another, like ships passing in the night.

   • 1984, Susan C. Farkas, Changes & Challenges: City Schools in America, →ISBN, page 129:

     "Education and business used to be like two ships that passed in the night," said Delaware Gov. Pierre duPont.

   • 1998 October 26, Jennifer Dunning, “In Performance: Dance”, in New York Times, retrieved 19 October 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.

   • 1999, Janet Duitsman Cornelius, Slave Missions and the Black Church in the Antebellum South, →ISBN, page 68:

     Ordinarily the missionaries' religion and the slaves' religion were like two ships that pass in the night.

   • 2009 February 14, Richard Dawkins, "The Science Show: Interpreting Darwin's theory" (transcript of interview), abc.net.au (Australia) (retrieved 19 Oct 2013):

     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.

Usage notes

• Often used in the prepositional phrase like ships that pass in the night.

Further reading

• “ships that pass in the night”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.