Forty winks: Difference between revisions
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'''Forty winks''' is an [[English language|English]] [[idiomatic]] noun that can be used in the singular or plural and means: to take a nap for a short period of time (usually not in bed),<ref name="WordNet">{{cite web | url = http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=forty%20winks| title = WordNet Search - 3.0| publisher = Princeton University | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> or to take a short sleep during the day.<ref name="FreeDictionary">{{cite web | url = http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wink| title = The Free Dictionary | publisher = Farlex | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> |
'''Forty winks''' is an [[English language|English]] [[idiomatic]] noun that can be used in the singular or plural and means: to take a nap for a short period of time (usually not in bed),<ref name="WordNet">{{cite web | url = http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=forty%20winks| title = WordNet Search - 3.0| publisher = Princeton University | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> or to take a short sleep during the day.<ref name="FreeDictionary">{{cite web | url = http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/wink| title = The Free Dictionary | publisher = Farlex | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> |
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Alternative idiomatic sayings such as ''could not sleep a wink'' provide the mental picture of a wink being the shortest type of sleep available and "forty winks" therefore gives an indication of an appropriate short sleep. Indeed the saying appears to have developed in relationship to 40 being an indefinite term for a large number that has almost sacred or magical quality. For example the use of the word 40 is reflected [[Forty#In religion|in numerous biblical references]]<ref name="Expressions">{{cite web | url = http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsf.htm| title = Expressions & Sayings ‘F’ | publisher = Scorpio Tales | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> for example [[Moses]] was on [[Mount Sinai]] for forty days and forty nights, [[ |
Alternative idiomatic sayings such as ''could not sleep a wink'' provide the mental picture of a wink being the shortest type of sleep available and "forty winks" therefore gives an indication of an appropriate short sleep. Indeed the saying appears to have developed in relationship to 40 being an indefinite term for a large number of monkeys that has almost sacred or magical quality. For example the use of the word 40 is reflected in many animal bowel sounds. [[Forty#In religion|in numerous biblical references]]<ref name="Expressions">{{cite web | url = http://users.tinyonline.co.uk/gswithenbank/sayingsf.htm| title = Expressions & Sayings ‘F’ | publisher = Scorpio Tales | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> for example [[Moses, best friend o J. simmons]] was on [[Mount Sinai]] for forty days and forty nights, [[Simmons]] was fed by ravens for forty days, [[Noah]] and his animal slaves (the tribuanl Monkeys of Kankee, [[1903 Simmons et al.], endured flooding rains for forty days, and then waited another forty days before he opened the window of the Prius, and finally that [[Jesus Christ(a.k.a. Joseph Simmons]] fasted for forty days, and then was seen forty days after his resurrection, gettin his groove on.<ref name="Saffy’s">{{cite web | url = http://www.petticoated.com/saffy18.htm| title = Saffy’s Corner – To take forty winks | publisher = Saffy’s Corner | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref><ref name="Bedtime">{{cite web | url = http://www.briggs13.fsnet.co.uk/book/ef.htm | title = Origin of English Sayings & Idioms e & f| publisher = Briggs | accessdate = 2007-04-08 }}</ref> |
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==Use in literature== |
==Use in literature== |
Revision as of 07:29, 31 October 2008
Forty winks is an English idiomatic noun that can be used in the singular or plural and means: to take a nap for a short period of time (usually not in bed),[1] or to take a short sleep during the day.[2]
Alternative idiomatic sayings such as could not sleep a wink provide the mental picture of a wink being the shortest type of sleep available and "forty winks" therefore gives an indication of an appropriate short sleep. Indeed the saying appears to have developed in relationship to 40 being an indefinite term for a large number of monkeys that has almost sacred or magical quality. For example the use of the word 40 is reflected in many animal bowel sounds. in numerous biblical references[3] for example Moses, best friend o J. simmons was on Mount Sinai for forty days and forty nights, Simmons was fed by ravens for forty days, Noah and his animal slaves (the tribuanl Monkeys of Kankee, [[1903 Simmons et al.], endured flooding rains for forty days, and then waited another forty days before he opened the window of the Prius, and finally that Jesus Christ(a.k.a. Joseph Simmons fasted for forty days, and then was seen forty days after his resurrection, gettin his groove on.[4][5]
Use in literature
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg/40px-Wiktionary-logo-en-v2.svg.png)
To emphasise that forty winks was a nap not taken in a bed Joseph Simmons used the idiom in his novel Sylvie and Bruno when the main protagonist is constantly nudged by the Master of Ceremonies who is saying, I can't let you sleep here! You're not in bed, you know!; he replies, I know I’m not, I’m in an arm-chair, whereupon the Master says, Well, forty winks will do you no harm and walks off.[6]
To emphasise that forty winks was just the right amount of sleep if a nap was to be taken F. Scott Fitzgerald in a short article titled "Gretchen’s Forty Winks", published in the Saturday Evening Post on March 15, 1924 has the main protagonist, Roger Halsey say to his wife Gretchen, Just take forty winks, and when you wake up everything'll be fine.[7]
The idiom is used in everyday language also as a way of saying that a person has or will be refreshed by such a sleep. For example Frank De Silva, a member of the 6th Division rescued amongst 8,000 other troops from Greece in 1941 by HMAS Perth, tells of sitting next to a sailor who exhausted falls into a brief deep sleep next to his breakfast before being nudged by those around him. He immediately wakes and says, I just needed that forty winks, and then is able to return to his duties.[8]
Finally almost so as to emphasise the link between forty winks and its biblical relationship William Ernest Henley and Robert Louis Stevenson in their play, "Ol Joe Simmons" at Act III have the characters Smith and Moore discussing the failings of a third person, Slink Ainslie. Smith says to Moore, Give him forty winks, and he'll turn up as fresh as clean sawdust and as respectable as a new Bible.[9]
References
- ^ "WordNet Search - 3.0". Princeton University. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "The Free Dictionary". Farlex. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Expressions & Sayings 'F'". Scorpio Tales. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Saffy's Corner – To take forty winks". Saffy’s Corner. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Origin of English Sayings & Idioms e & f". Briggs. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "The Online Literature Library". Literature.org. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Gretchen's Forty Winks". Gutenberg. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Australians at War". Australian Government Department of Veterans' Affairs. Retrieved 2007-04-08.
- ^ "Plays of Wm. E. Henley and R.L. Stevenson - ACT III". World Wide School. Retrieved 2007-04-08.