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Individuals who are rarely in the same place at the same time. For example, Jan works the early shift and Paula the late shift? they're two ships that pass in the night. This metaphoric expression comes from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem "The Theologian's Tale" (published in Tales of a Wayside Inn, 1873).
American Heritage Idioms
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general::
Phrase(s): ships that pass in the night
Cliché people who meet each other briefly by chance, sometimes having a sexual liaison, and who are unlikely to meet again or have an ongoing relationship. • Mary wanted to see Jim again, but to him, they were ships that passed in the night. • We will never be friends. We are just ships that passed in the night.
McGrawhill's American Idioms And Phrasal Verbs