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- asleep at the switch
asleep at the switch
*asleep at the switch
Fig. not attending to one's job; failing to do one's duty at the proper time. (Alludes to a technician or engineer on a train sleeping instead of turning whatever switches are required. *Typically: be ~; fall ~.) The security guard fell asleep at the switch and a robber broke in. If I hadn't been asleep at the switch, I'd have noticed the car being stolen.
asleep at the switch
not paying attention asleep at the wheel Health experts were asleep at the switch when the disease began to spread rapidly again.
Etymology: based on the idea of someone going to sleep while they are responsible for operating the switch (device) that allows a train to move from one track to another
asleep at the switch
Also, asleep at the wheel. Inattentive, not doing one's job, as in At the critical moment the watchman was asleep at the switch and only called the fire department when it was too late . This term came from 19th-century American railroading, when it was the trainman's duty to switch cars from one track to another by means of manually operated levers. Should he fail to do so, trains could collide. It was later transferred to any lack of alertness. The wheel in the variant is a steering wheel; similarly disastrous results are implied.
asleep at the switch
mod. inattentive to duty. (Not literal.) Donald was asleep at the switch when the call came in.