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What is the meaning of "graveyard shift"?

(M. Munavar Basha, Chennai)

This is an expression mainly used in American English. When you say that you are working the graveyard shift in a factory, what you mean is that you are working the late night shift — you usually work from midnight to eight in the morning.

*We have to cancel our plans. I am working the graveyard shift next week.

This expression became popular in the U.S. during World War II. It was a time when many factories worked 24 hours a day. The people who worked the graveyard shift worked at a time when everyone else was fast asleep; when everything in town was very quiet and as still as a graveyard!

"My doctor gave me six months to live, but when I couldn't pay the bill, he gave me six months more." — Walter Matthau

S. Upendran

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