By the way, where did that phrase come from? Now you know.
The idiom burning the midnight oil can be traced back at least to 17th century England, and means to work on a project or endeavor through the overnight hours. Before the invention of the electric light, most lamps used for illumination were fueled by oil. These lamps were customarily extinguished during the early evening hours as most people prepared for bedtime. Those who worked late into the evening would literally be burning the oil late at night. In a modern sense, the idiom is largely symbolic, since few people voluntarily work by the light of an oil lamp today.
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