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Burn the Candle at Both Ends

 

To Burn The Candle at Both Ends


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Meaning:

Burn the Candle at Both Ends means to exhaust someone’s energies or resources by leading a hectic life. to work so hard that you don’t rest.  

“Um, I think you are burning the candle at both ends.”


Origin:

This phrase started life a bit different than what we use it as today. This saying has been around since the 1600s. It was meant to be wasteful, not of our time, but of resources instead. Candles were the only source of light back in the 1600s after the sun went down, so, you burn candles to extend the day. So, to burn a candle at both ends meant that you were wasting resources. Not only would the candle burn up twice as fast but having to hold it horizontal meant the wax would drip off and burn up even faster.

The first written record was recorded in French by Randle Cotgrave in A Dictionarie of the French and English Tongues, in 1611, it reads:

'Brusler la chandelle par les deux bouts'. [To burn the candle by the two ends]


Example:

Today the meaning of burning the candle at both ends means you are burning yourself out by working or parting too much. When we use it in a sentence, we are saying that someone is doing something too much and will burn out soon, an example sentence is:

"Working and studying at the same time has led to me having to burn the candle at both ends." 


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