Mf. That's the second time I've been proven wrong this week. So "tight" really just meant "soundly" even in the olden days?
Thanks for the correction. My question then, is this one: if the phrase did not originate until after the obsolescence of rope-frame beds, where is and when was the first documented use of the phrase?
The phrase actually isn't very old. The first citation found is from 1866. In her diary Through Some Eventful Years, Susan Bradford Eppes included:
"All is ready and we leave as soon as breakfast is over. Goodbye little Diary. ‘Sleep tight and wake bright,’ for I will need you when I return".
There aren't other known citations until L Frank Baum’s Rinkitink In Oz, 1916 and the OED has no others until 1933. This puts the phrase out of general circulation in the early 20th century, which tends to argue against the rope stringing origin as we might expect the common use of the phrase and the common use of rope-strung beds to coincide.
You really should be a regular on the QI.com Talk forums or something. That's where they do research for the show--and things from the forums really do go on the show--and are a great place for "quite interesting" discussion for its own sake. If you avoid "General Banter", that is, where we seem to be having trouble with being overrun with irritating posters who want to spew
( ... )
I will get right on joining the forums, in fact. Oh knowledge, how I adore thee.
If Susan Bradford Eppes says "sleep tight" in reference to a diary, couldn't that also refer to the diary's bindings, thus also harkening back to rope-frame beds?
I'm half-joking. :) But it's another way to look at it. And I do avoid general banter at all costs.
i figured you're one of the few people who would actually appreciate that.
things are things. idk, i'm kind of at that point where i don't even care, and when i do, i blog, and move on. lol. how about you? how's school? and family? and friends? and life in general?
Yeah, interesting how we tend to fall back on the ol' Livejournal to vent, eh? Hence my return. :P I'm doing well - school could be better, but I'm enjoying the social scene, an area I did not devote nearly enough time to during my early college career. Family is half supportive, half irritating - in essence, currently the reason why I'm coming back to the LJ this evening. Life is, as has been the case since this year began, grand.
Comments 9
I dunno, Mead; that sounds like a back-etymology. Most people seem to agree.
Reply
Thanks for the correction. My question then, is this one: if the phrase did not originate until after the obsolescence of rope-frame beds, where is and when was the first documented use of the phrase?
Reply
The phrase actually isn't very old. The first citation found is from 1866. In her diary Through Some Eventful Years, Susan Bradford Eppes included:
"All is ready and we leave as soon as breakfast is over. Goodbye little Diary. ‘Sleep tight and wake bright,’ for I will need you when I return".
There aren't other known citations until L Frank Baum’s Rinkitink In Oz, 1916 and the OED has no others until 1933. This puts the phrase out of general circulation in the early 20th century, which tends to argue against the rope stringing origin as we might expect the common use of the phrase and the common use of rope-strung beds to coincide.
You really should be a regular on the QI.com Talk forums or something. That's where they do research for the show--and things from the forums really do go on the show--and are a great place for "quite interesting" discussion for its own sake. If you avoid "General Banter", that is, where we seem to be having trouble with being overrun with irritating posters who want to spew ( ... )
Reply
If Susan Bradford Eppes says "sleep tight" in reference to a diary, couldn't that also refer to the diary's bindings, thus also harkening back to rope-frame beds?
I'm half-joking. :) But it's another way to look at it. And I do avoid general banter at all costs.
Reply
( ... )
Reply
Aw. You just made my day, darlin'.
Wow, that felt repulsively hick escaping my lips. How are things?
Reply
things are things. idk, i'm kind of at that point where i don't even care, and when i do, i blog, and move on. lol.
how about you? how's school? and family? and friends? and life in general?
Reply
Any updates on your end?
Reply
Leave a comment