"Sleep Tight" Idiom Meaning, Origin & History | Superduper English Idioms
Channel: Superduper English Idioms
Date: 26/07/2020

0:00 - How to Say, “Sleep tight.”
0:17 - Examples of “Sleep tight.”
0:42 - Meaning of “Sleep tight.”
1:17 - Origin of “Sleep tight.”
4:09 - More Examples of “Sleep tight.”
4:41 - Conclusion

“Sleep tight.”

You’ve certainly heard someone wishing you a good night’s sleep, “Sleep tight,” as you drifted off to dreamland.

“Good night, sleep tight,” one of your parents might have said to you when you were a child and they tucked you in.

Maybe you’re on a camping trip and you tell your tentmate, “We’ve got an exciting day tomorrow, sleep tight!”

As you can tell, the idiom, “sleep tight”, means that you wish someone sleep well, have a good rest, pass the night peacefully.

It is an affectionate and loving way to bid someone good night, and is only usually said if you will be sleeping in the same building or place.

The Oxford English Dictionary explains the origin of, “sleep tight”, as the only surviving example of the adverb, “tightly”...

… “tight” or “tightly” in this case meaning, “well, soundly, properly,” and not what we usually think of when we hear the word, “tight”.

All animals need sleep, of course, and so it is that every human culture has words to wish each other a good night’s sleep.

The European languages all say, “good night,” a straightforward combination of “good” plus “night”.

In Chinese, they say, “Peaceful night.”

In Hindi, they wish each other an, “auspicious night.”

In Japanese, they formally say, “You do rest,” though they usually use a shortened form.

In Korean, they say literally, “Bye, sleep please!”

The Vietnamese, “Wishing delightsome sleep,” sounds quite poetic.

Of course, no matter the literal translation of the words said in various languages, the intention is always, “good night, sleep tight.”

The full version of this idiom is, “Good night, sleep tight, don’t let the bed bugs bite,” and is nowadays only said by children as a sort of nursery rhyme.

Though we don’t often hear the part about the bed bugs, you can guess that bed bugs were a huge problem in the past.

“Sleep tight, my friend,” a wise old man of the forest might wish you on the night that you rest at his place before continuing your dangerous journey.

You will probably say to your kids every night as you tuck them in, “Good night and sleep tight!”

So, whenever you want to affectionately bid someone that you care about a restful night, don’t hesitate to say, “Sleep tight.”

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