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Glossary entry

English term or phrase:

in the middle of the night

English answer:

In the wee hours || late

Added to glossary by María Teresa Taylor Oliver
Jun 15, 2005 21:55
18 yrs ago
4 viewers *
English term

in the middle of the night

English Art/Literary Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
What exactly does "middle of the night" mean? Does it always refer to midnight/12 o'clock am, exclusively, or is the meaning more ample and vague?

I've always thought it could mean any time between 8 or 9pm up until 3 or 4 am or something, as when it is dark. By the way, here in my country (Panama), it is already dark by 8pm, always, we're not blessed with long summer days like in other countries :)

I also thought it meant the time when someone has already retired, not necessarily to sleep, but a time when he or she is not inclined to receive phone calls or visits or to be bothered. So, of course, that would depend on each person...

Thanks!
Responses
3 +16 In the wee hours
3 +11 more vague to me
3 during night
3 that late / so late
Change log

Jun 22, 2005 03:30: Kim Metzger changed "Field" from "Other" to "Art/Literary"

Discussion

Johan Venter Jun 17, 2005:
In the Czech language this expression is used even less strict than in English. Whenever someone is sleeping deeply you can say "ma pulnoc" - it is the middle of the night (midnight) for him or more literal - he has midnight.
Non-ProZ.com Jun 16, 2005:
Another thing that's interesting... is that every time I hear the expression in a movie or a TV show, the Spanish subtitles always say "medianoche" which means, strictly, "midnight". One of those things to ponder...
Non-ProZ.com Jun 16, 2005:
The rhythm of what, I would ask? :P Thank you all, this doubt of mine arose just because I was telling a friend that last night someone was ringing my intercom buzzer around 10:30, and I said something like "whoever does that in the middle of the night is very inconsiderate", and my friend said "isn't the middle of the night at midnight?" and I was like... what? Oh, JC, you're not the first to tell me I look like Rosie, and, to be honest, I didn't mind before, in her good years, but have you seen how she looks lately? :( so I'll just assume you meant during her "pretty years" :P
Ernesto de Lara Jun 16, 2005:
Panama is blessed with the rhythm

Responses

+16
3 mins
Selected

In the wee hours

I'd say "in the middle of the night" refers to a time in the night when most people are sound asleep. It could be between midnight and 5 in the morning.
Peer comment(s):
agree Mikhail Kropotov
0 min
agree jrb : yes, also "in the small hours" - "wee" is a bit Scottish (to me at least)
1 min
But we Americans have adopted your lovely Scottish term in this particular phrase.
agree pike
3 mins
agree Vicky Papaprodromou
3 mins
agree rangepost
33 mins
agree marybro
1 hr
agree Anna Maria Augustine (X) : when I'm still up and working :(
1 hr
agree RHELLER : yes, not before midnight :-)
2 hrs
agree KNielsen : Yes, definitely. And "in the wee hours" definitely fits.
2 hrs
agree Alp Berker
4 hrs
agree NancyLynn : oh yes - who's this calling in the middle of the night? conjures images of turning on lights, grabbing housecoats and eyeglasses, stumbling around half-asleep...I'm off to bed g'nite!
6 hrs
agree Edith Kelly
6 hrs
agree Saiwai Translation Services
9 hrs
agree Derek Gill Franßen : I agree with Rita - generally not before midnight. I also agree with you that "wee" is the term Americans would use - not "small" - in this particular phrase. :-)
10 hrs
agree Louise Gough
15 hrs
agree Johan Venter
1 day 11 hrs
Something went wrong...
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thanks so much, everyone's input is greatly appreciated, and I'm sorry for the delay in grading!! Derek, thanks, it's funny, my native language is Spanish, not English, and the friend I was talking to, his native language is Dutch, so English is the language we use to communicate, and I sometimes come out with these expressions that sound right when I say them, but then, when I think about it, or when he asks me, because they sound weird, I don't know where they came from!!! :D I probably watch too much (American) TV :P"
+11
0 min

more vague to me

To me, it means after normal folks have gone to bed. It might be 12, but it could also be 3 or 4 AM.

So, I vote for more vague.

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Note added at 1 min (2005-06-15 21:57:43 GMT)
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and your picture looks just like Rosie O\'Donnel
Peer comment(s):
agree Can Altinbay : It is more vague. I'd say it's some late hour and likely varies with the person saying it and the circumstances under which it's said.
2 mins
agree Mikhail Kropotov : It's in the middle of one's night, I'd say :)
3 mins
agree pike : Also with Can.
5 mins
agree Vicky Papaprodromou
5 mins
agree Charlie Bavington : yes, it's vague and wide-ranging, the bedtime reference is not without worth :-)
7 mins
agree rangepost
35 mins
agree KNielsen : Yes, vague. Though "the middle of the night" sounds rather later than midnight to me--like from 2 or 3 onward. Basically the time when everything is quiet and all normal people are sound asleep :-)
2 hrs
agree Melanie Nassar : I'd say normally not 10:30, unless you are a baker and go to bed at 8. But definitely vague.
9 hrs
agree Derek Gill Franßen : I'm with Armaat (and you) on this one. :-)
10 hrs
agree Louise Gough
15 hrs
agree Andrey Belousov (X)
119 days
Something went wrong...
4 hrs

during night

Going strictly by the dictionary, it means during the night.

Here is how COD defines "in the middle of":

middle 1. at an equal distance from the extremities of a thing

-in the middle of (often followed by verbal noun) in the process of; during.


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Note added at 4 hrs 5 mins (2005-06-16 02:01:15 GMT)
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I don\'t think it has anything to do with people\'s habits of waking or sleeping.

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Note added at 4 hrs 10 mins (2005-06-16 02:06:44 GMT)
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If you consider phrases like \"while I was still in the middle of the work something happened\", the words \"in the middle of\" means \"while my work was still not finished\".

By analogy, \"in the middle of the night\" would mean \"while the night was still not finished\" or \"while it was still night\".

It comes around to the same thing, \"during night\"!
Something went wrong...
10 hrs

that late / so late

I know you didn't ask, but I was thinking about how I would've put what you were trying to express - I probably would've said something like "Anyone who calls (me) that late is asking for trouble." ;-)
Something went wrong...
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