Alan's Weekend Words 22nd July

Alan’s Weekend Words July 22nd

Sleep

I’ts surprising how many things we can talk about related to sleep in English. Apparently the Swedes have 95 different words for sleep. I don’t think we have anything like that many in English, but even so, we talk abou sleep and sleeping in quite a number of ways.

For instance, we have:

sleep for the noun
to sleep, sleeping – the verb

and other words that describe sleep in different ways> Examples:

A nap or a “catnap” = a short sleep – usually in the daytime

to snooze, or a snooze” same as a “nap”

Often, an alarm clock will have a “snooze” button – so that we can sleep a little longer and then another alorm will sound.

To doze – where it’s describing someone not sleeping too deeply. “Don’t doze off when you’re driving!!” an important thing to remember.

There are other slang words or expressions. Here are some I know and quite like:

“Shut-eye”
“Kip”
“40 winks”
“Nod-off”
“Zonked” (usually after someone has had a lot to drink”
“Slaughtered” (very tired)
“Dead to the world” – when someone can’t wake up very easily – after a late night

I remember that Americans sometimes say “bushed” – meaning tired – but maybe they don’t use that so much these days...

We sometimes use the Spanish word “siesta” to talk about sleeping during the daytime – for a rest, when on holidau or having a sleep when the weather is very hot.

There are many others I can’t remember just now. Perhaps you’d like to do a bit of research yourself!

When someone needs to get to sleep, we sometimes “count sheep” in our heads. The idea is to get so bored counting sheep – you fall asleep! Try it!


See you next time