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be sleeping at the switch

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be sleeping at the switch

To be failing to attend to one's responsibilities or duties; to be inattentive to that which is important or for which one is responsible. Johnson was supposed to make sure the paperwork went through before the deadline, but it looks like he was sleeping at the switch. Our goalkeeper is such a nincompoop. We would have won that match if he hadn't been sleeping at the switch!

See also: sleep, switch