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Reader question: Please explain “down time”, as in “enjoying some down time at the beach”. My comments: It means some busy person is having some time off, and spending it by the seaside, swimming in the sea or sunbathing on the beach. Although “down time” means they’re off work and resting, relaxing and fooling around, people enjoying some down time are usually very busy people. “Down time”, you see, originally refers to a power failure or machine failure, during which time workers all put their working tools DOWN and have some idle TIME taking a much welcome rest. This is opposite of, of course, up time or uptime, when power is on and all the machines are up and running, everybody hurries back to work. One can imagine, for example, how valuable a little down time means to those working at an assembly line. They can always use a few minutes of break to relax and stretch their muscles and perhaps go to the loo. Understandably, they won’t be able to do any of those things while the assembly line is moving, of course. Anyways, metaphorically speaking, down time refers to a period of break, hiatus or sabbatical during an otherwise hectic and busy schedule. This is why I say that someone “enjoying some down time” necessarily implies that they are otherwise very busy people. Finding time for the beach isn’t easy for them. In other words, if a local fisherman is found dosing off under a coconut tree, he would not be enjoying any down time. He’s just enjoying a normal noon break or simply living a fisherman’s life when he’s not fishing. | 
