The English We Speak: Passing Ships

Learning English Conversations

This phrase comes from a longer idiom, ‘like ships that pass at night’. It’s used when two people have busy schedules, and struggle to find time to meet for more than just a brief encounter. Learn how to use it here, with Georgie and Feifei.

Find a free transcript here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak_2026/ep-260713

We send a newsletter with our weekly highlights - subscribe here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newsletters

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This phrase comes from a longer idiom, ‘like ships that pass at night’. It’s used when two people have busy schedules, and struggle to find time to meet for more than just a brief encounter. Learn how to use it here, with Georgie and Feifei.

Find a free transcript here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/english/features/the-english-we-speak_2026/ep-260713

We send a newsletter with our weekly highlights - subscribe here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/learningenglish/newsletters

2026-07-14 2 min
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