Tuesday, October 24, 2017

Asleep at the switch - an American idiom



America's English idiom

 American idiom:
“Asleep at the switch”
Meaning: not attending to one’s job or failing to react quickly; not being alert.
Origin: From the early days of railroad (mid 1800’s).  One of a trainman’s duties was to switch a train from one track to another at exactly the right moment.  If they fell asleep at the switch, the train might go off the rails and crash.  
America's English

No comments: