Trivia

[calda49]

I seem to have heard and read several times today the expression, "broad daylight". What is the derivation, and why do we use it, when we don't have anything similar for night? I cannot imagine saying "narrow night", or "slim night" !!! ( As my OH would say, "Simple things employ simple minds.) Thanks for all efforts to enlighten me.

[elliemay1]

//If you say that a crime is committed in broad daylight, you are expressing your surprise that it is done during the day when people can see it, rather than at night.//

[Peter Pedant]

" “He was robbed in broad daylight. ' The expression first appeared in print in 1579, but its close relative, synonym, and predecessor BROAD DAY appeared in 1393. The sense of BROAD used here, meaning wide open, fully expanded, ample/full, first appeared in the 10th century.""

christ - well someone asked

[Mamyalynne]

The phrase has a very long and somewhat mixed history.

http://www.wordwizard.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?t=19125#:~:text=BROAD%20DAYLIGHT%20means%20ample%2C%20full,BROAD%20DAY%20appeared%20in%201393.


Phrases for night might include 'Under cover of darkness' or 'In the dead of night'

[Mamyalynne]

We both visit the same websites Peter :-)

[douglas9401]

It stems from that time in high summer where even Norfolk is illuminated.

[bobbinwales]

Some song's refer to the deep of the night and theres deep into the night

[Buenchico]

The antonym of 'daylight' isn't 'night'. (That's the antonym of 'day').

It's 'darkness', with 'total darkness' being the equivalent of 'broad daylight'.

[Buenchico]

From the OED:
https://ibb.co/cgjVnQv