{"id":2991,"date":"2022-04-08T17:17:30","date_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:17:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=2991"},"modified":"2022-04-08T17:17:30","modified_gmt":"2022-04-08T17:17:30","slug":"sleep-tight-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/sleep-tight-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Sleep Tight - Meaning, Origin and Usage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Are you looking for a way to wish someone a good night? If so, you could tell them \u201c<em>sleep tight<\/em>.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression.<\/p>\n<h2>Meaning<\/h2>\n<p><strong>The meaning of the expression \u201c<em>sleep tight<\/em>\u201d is a farewell greeting to people wishing them a pleasant, restful night. You\u2019re wishing them a peaceful night and that they wake in the morning feeling refreshed.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Many people add the saying \u201c<em>don\u2019t let the bed bugs bite<\/em>\u201d to the end of the expression. It\u2019s common for parents to say this line to their children, but adults may also use it.<\/p>\n<p>You can use the phrase when wishing anyone a good night. However, it\u2019s more common for people to use it with people they know. You could use the term in person, on the phone, or in a text message.<\/p>\n<h2>Example Usage<\/h2>\n<p>\u201cAre you off to bed then? You look exhausted. Well, have a hot shower, get under the covers and sleep tight.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSweet dreams and sleep tight; enjoy your beauty sleep because you sure need it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThanks for a great day. Sleep tight, and we\u2019ll see you in the morning.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSleep tight, my friend, that was one heck of a day, and we all deserve some shuteye right now.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Partner 1: \u201cI\u2019m going to bed, honey; I\u2019ll see you in dreamland.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Partner 2: \u201cOk, sleep tight and sweet dreams, my love.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Kid: \u201cMom, I\u2019m going to bed.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Mom: \u201cSleep tight, don\u2019t let the bed bugs bite.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2992\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sleep-Tight.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"153\" height=\"102\" \/> <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-2993\" src=\"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/Sleep-Tight2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"149\" height=\"197\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Origin<\/h2>\n<p>The origin of the expression \"sleep tight\" comes from the mid-1800s. The first citation of the saying in print comes from 1866. Susan Bradford Eppes included the phrase in her diary, \"Through Some Eventful Years,\" which appears as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"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.\"<\/p>\n<p>The phrase would also spread through Britain and America in the late 1800s, and it was a common farewell greeting by the early 1900s. Some of the earlier iterations of this saying include \"Sleep tightly\" and \"tight asleep.\"<\/p>\n<p>Marie Beauchamp was the first to use \"tight asleep\" in her novel, \"Elizabeth and Her German Garden,\" published in 1898, where it appears as follows.<\/p>\n<p>\"And once, when there was a storm in the night, she complained loudly and wanted to know why Lieber Gott didn't do the scolding in the daytime, as she had been so tight asleep.\"<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Learn English - Everyday Idioms #68. Sleep Tight\" width=\"512\" height=\"288\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/1SkjtmMFJpg?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<h2>Phrases Similar to Sleep Tight<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Sleep tight, don\u2019t let the bed bugs bite.<\/li>\n<li>Sleep well.<\/li>\n<li>Sweet dreams.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Phrases Opposite to Sleep Tight<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Nightmare fuel.<\/li>\n<li>Restless night.<\/li>\n<li>Toss and turn all night.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>What is the Correct Saying?<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Sleep tight.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Ways People May Say Sleep Tight Incorrectly<\/h2>\n<p>Some people may use the older version of the saying, \u201csleep tightly\u201d instead of \u201csleep tight.\u201d While it\u2019s not technically incorrect, it\u2019s the less common of the expressions.<\/p>\n<p>Most people will use the phrase when wishing someone a good night; you wouldn\u2019t use it if someone was going down for a nap.<\/p>\n<h2>Acceptable Ways to Phrase Sleep Tight<\/h2>\n<p>You can use \u201csleep tight\u201d to wish anyone a goodnight. It applies to people of all age groups, from toddlers to seniors.<\/p>\n<p>Typically, you\u2019ll say it to someone you know, like your children or a friend. For instance, you could tell your baby to \u201csleep tight\u201d as you lay them in their crib. You could tell a friend \u201csleep tight\u201d when they retire to bed on a shared vacation.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s common for people to add \u201cdon\u2019t let the bed bugs bite\u201d or a similar addition. So, it would read as \u201csleep tight, don\u2019t let the bed bugs bite.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-2\">Are you looking for a way to wish someone a good night? If so, you could tell them \u201csleep tight.\u201d This post unpacks the meaning and origin of this expression. Meaning The meaning of the expression \u201csleep tight\u201d is a farewell greeting to people wishing them a pleasant, restful night. You\u2019re wishing them a peaceful [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2991"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3076,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2991\/revisions\/3076"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}