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Graveyard Shift
It started as "graveyard watch" in the late 1800's as a nautical term
for a late-night work shift, but in the early 1900's "shirt" was used
instead by workers on land. It has nothing to do with actually working
a graveyard.
This from a website visitor:
On your IdiomSite.com you incorrectly cited a single source for 'Graveyard
Shift' , and claimed "nothing to do..." WRONG ! During the late
16th century when superstitions were rampant , many of the graveyards
which were traditionally near Churches or central in a community, the
burial practices had to adapt to the fact of the need to re-cycle burial
sites. The older bodies were removed and disposed of after a couple of
years. During these removals, the workmen discovered that the inside of
the coffins showed very definite clawings and that some people were being
buried prematurely. Many people were presumed to be dead but in fact were
only unconscious. To make the situations fail-safe, the process that today
we call ' A WAKE ' became standard procedure. During Louis the XV`s reign,
in addition to the ' wake' , often family survivors would affix a bell
to the headstone with a cord leading inside the coffin. One of the reports
that I read said that one woman had a sleep disorder and was actually
buried twice, and that a succeeding incident was noted at her wake The
Graveyard shift was usually done by family members. The local magistrates
and parish rectors would often assign the Graveyard shift to people who
broke the kings laws or sinned against society
This from another website visitor:
I believe at one point the story I was told about the origin of this saying is that it did in fact refer to working at a grave yard. There were people who would spend the night in the cemetaries next to the most recent graves on the day of burial in the event that the deceased was infact still alive. I think this was around the 1800's or earlier when people in comatose states could not be diagnosed as such. So strings were tied around the dead which led to a bell on the surface and could be rang should they wake up soon after burial. This would prevent people from being buried alive.
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