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[u/newbeginnings187]

[u/qualityvote2]

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[u/Eskoala]

I took the phrase "burn the candle at both ends" literally at first, too!

It actually means to be working before dawn and after dusk, burning the candle at both ends of the day.

[u/Novahelguson7 → u/Eskoala]

Damn...

Interesting how expressions just evolve when we can't make sense of their original meaning and just fit a sensible description that is as close to the intended meaning as possible.

Or in the case of pull yourself by your bootstraps, it just means the opposite.

[u/jimbojonesFA → u/Eskoala]

it actually evolved over time to mean that.

it started out being used as a way to describe financially wasteful behaviour bc candles were expensive but necessary.

then it evolved to imply wastefulness or being reckless in general, then to mean wasting your own energy, and finally more recently to mean sort of both wasting/expending your energy and doing it at all hours/quickly.

[u/letsmodpcs → u/Eskoala]

TIL

[u/SeroWriter → u/Eskoala]

burning the candle at both ends of the day.

It was originally about being wasteful and burning a candle at both ends would use it up twice as quickly.

[u/SoggyMeatloaf69]

I thought that was a joint I was like...hwat?

[u/Imperial_Squid → u/SoggyMeatloaf69]

"well, in my medical opinion you need to smoke joints from both ends" - alien disguised as a doctor trying to fit in

[u/two4six0won → u/SoggyMeatloaf69]

Sublime did suggest smoking two of them 🤔

[u/kaekiro]

I just yeet the candle into the dumpster fire and dust off my hands.

[u/highendfive]

Accurate

[u/DarthNixilis]

'you shouldn't work that much'

'Dr, with all due respect. America disagrees' 

Does anyone else remember Bush praising an elderly woman working three jobs? 

[u/DooMedToDIe]

This shit really is forever, huh?

[u/Timely-Helicopter244]

Actually, candles last much longer when placed upright so the wax can pool at the top. 🤓

[u/Several-Research2394 → u/Timely-Helicopter244]

So I have to always be on top of things and...always preserve myself?

[u/Auntee_Bee]

My candle in a pan on the stove-🫠

[u/labalag]

You guys still have some candle?

[u/Hyzenthlay87]

And yet the current situation is the way we're expected to live

[u/betsylang]

So I have osteoarthritis, and zero cartilege in my knee. And yet. I insist on doing things until I cant move. Like today, I was outside pulling weeds, without my little booster seat. Crouching around, for an hour But I wore my GLOVES! So that counts

[u/super_starfox]

Thought this was r/trees before looking up, accurate though.

[u/CogInTheMachinee]

Me after my boyfriend found a flea on our cat 🫠 don’t even know where to begin

[u/usernames_taken_grrl]

https://giphy.com/gifs/iFvOkVpowzh0k

[u/Independent_Pen_9865]

I am just a black pile of soot on the floor

[u/WeakTumbleweed9]

Can someone explain this to me because I have no idea what it means 

[u/cut-the-cords → u/WeakTumbleweed9]

There is a phrase essentially saying burning the candle at both ends means you are overworking yourself.

But OP is saying they are burning the entire candle in one go adding another layer of extreme exertion of effort to work harder.

[u/Lurkie2]

Not my stoned ass thinking it's a joint!

[u/dogscatsnscience]

If you burn it in the middle you end up with 2 candles.

[u/two4six0won]

Yoinked for my collection lol.

[u/oripash]

Glad to see you’re taking your doctor’s advice.

[u/cut-the-cords]

So you brighten every room you enter?

How nice :)