Sleep

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 about 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!