Sleep Tight

[NewZer0]

One of my friends posted a note on Facebook saying that the origin of the phrase "sleep tight" comes from the practice of tightening the ropes that held together beds in Elizabethan England.

While I do know rope beds existed at that time, it seems a little too pat.

Does anyone know the origin of this phrase?

Thanks!

--NewZer0

[ganzfeld]

I think that's BS. Tight simply means well:
http://www.askoxford.com/asktheexper.../tight?view=uk

(Interesting to me is the word "uptight". We use it now to mean tense or nervous, etc. but it used to mean almost the exact opposite, as in the song lyrics: "Uptight, everthing is alright...".)

[Lainie]

Ganzfeld, I believe the lyrics are:

Baby, everything is all right
Uptight
Outta sight

And I'm not sure "uptight" ever had a positive meaning. I suspect the person writing the song may have chosen the word because it rhymed and was in ignorance of, or indifferent to, its actual meaning.

[ganzfeld]

Originally Posted by Lainie

Ganzfeld, I believe the lyrics are:

Baby, everything is all right
Uptight
Outta sight

And I'm not sure "uptight" ever had a positive meaning. I suspect the person writing the song may have chosen the word because it rhymed and was in ignorance of, or indifferent to, its actual meaning.

You're correct about the lyrics. However, the title of the song is usually written "Uptight (Everything's Alright)". I don't think Henry Cosby just threw the word in there. Do you also think the song "Tighten up" is all about getting tense? While "tight" is more common, "uptight" has been used in the same way for some time. The song "Blues Up Tight", for example, was written in 1961, four years before "Uptight". Two years after "Uptight" came the blues song "Up Tight, Good Man" by Laura Lee: "...a man with courage and pride, somebody to stand by my side. I want a good man..." I don't think she just threw the word in there for a rhyme, either.

Etymonline.com says the positive meaning was a "jazz" meaning but I don't think it was limited to musicians. (I have found that "jazz" sometimes simply means African American dialect.) All that said, Etymonline.com does place the meaning of tense or nervous a few decades before the "jazz" meaning so I would probably be wrong about that.

There's no doubt about the word tight, though.

[RealityChuck]

According to the OED, earliest use of the phrase seems to originate in the late 1890s (as "tight asleep"), long after ropes were used for beds.

The first instance of the phrase "Good night. Sleep tight" comes for Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness in 1933, probably his most popular play (at one point, it was one of the most performed plays in the US, mostly by community theaters). That would probably be what popularized the phrase.

[Cervus]

The R&B usage of playing "tight" meant that all musicians were performing together in a sleek, neat arrangement (think James Brown's rhythm section) rather than improvised or "sloppy". Tightening up is much different than being uptight, though.

[Brad from Georgia]

Try drinking four hot scotches every night. That'll make you sleep tight.

[Bonnie]

Originally Posted by RealityChuck

According to the OED, earliest use of the phrase seems to originate in the late 1890s (as "tight asleep"), long after ropes were used for beds.

The first instance of the phrase "Good night. Sleep tight" comes for Eugene O'Neill's Ah, Wilderness in 1933, probably his most popular play (at one point, it was one of the most performed plays in the US, mostly by community theaters). That would probably be what popularized the phrase.

Actually, "sleep tight" was in place in the United States at least by 1873, though your point obviously stands that the phrase is of pretty recent origin.

(From Elizabeth Olmis's poem "'G'anpa's' Nap," The Christian Union, 3 December 1873.)

"Guess he’s sleep tight," whispered Gracie;

Incidentally, "good-night, sleep tight" was in use at least by 1890:

(From Katharine Lee Bates's "Sibyl's Adventure," The Independent; Devoted to the Consideration of Politics, Social and Economic Tendencies, History, Literature, and the Arts [New York], 28 August 1890.)

"But I never mind your laughing, you old blessing. Good-night. Sleep tight."

I'm not sure how much Eugene O'Neill's usage contributed to the popularizing of the then 40+-year-old phrase, but in September 1926 Emma Therise Judd of Thomaston, Connecticut, wrote the editor of The New York Times, bragging that her pair of Colombian parrots spoke not only a few words in Spanish, but also some 300 English words, including the phrase, "Good night, sleep tight," the habitual sign-off for the evening.

Bonnie "Polyglot want a cracker?" Taylor

[NewZer0]

I *knew* the Elizabethan thing couldn't be correct!

This thread has been an interesting read; thanks y'all!

--NewZer0