Word of warning: There's a chance this post will make you drowsy. If it does, take a nap and return to it with fresh eyes later. Trust me, it's worth the read! What's the secret to success? Getting the perfect amount of sleep! That's what lots of news stories these days will have you believe, anyway. So what is that magic number? I've heard from various sources that eight hours is ideal, that seven is much better than eight, that it must be a multiple of two or three hours, and that it doesn't matter the number, as long as you wake up at the end of a sleep cycle. With this mishmash of information, it's hard to know what to believe. But perhaps our slumberful confusion is related to the fact that we are now following sleeping patterns that are not natural to our species. That’s right, readers – turns out it’s not how much we sleep, but how.
Evidence suggests that until relatively recently, people didn't sleep for a long, single period during the night - they slept in two increments of three to four hours each, beginning just after dusk. Upon waking from their first sleep, they would get up for one to three hours, visit neighbours, pray, read, untangle their dreams, or have great sex with their partners. (That last bit isn't just me being crass; a doctor's manual from 16th century France advised couples that the best time to conceive was "after the first sleep", when "they have more enjoyment" and "do it better".) There are numerous literary references pointing to this “first sleep” and “second sleep” phenomenon, also known as segmented sleep. In his book At Day's Close: Night in Times Past, Virginia Tech history professor A. Roger Ekirch cites more than 500 historical references to a segmented sleeping pattern including diaries, court records, medical books and literature, from Homer's Odyssey to an anthropological account of modern tribes in Nigeria. Ekirch argues that before the Industrial Revolution, segmented sleep was the norm throughout Western civilization. With the introduction of artificial lighting, however, the evening became a time for socializing and being productive. People stopped going to bed at nightfall and instead began staying up later and sleeping in one single chunk. By the 1920s, segmented sleep had all but disappeared. The period between the first and second sleep, sometimes referred to as “the watch,” was spent by many in philosophical reflection or even artistic creation. Architect Frank Lloyd Wright was known to wake at four, work for several hours, and then resume sleep. And U.S. President Thomas Jefferson had a habit of reading books on moral philosophy before bed with the intention of ruminating over them after waking from his first sleep. Even more commonly, people used this period to lay awake and reflect on their dreams, thereby allowing their consciousness to enter a part of the human psyche that is often ignored in our modern world of late nights and alarm clocks. Turns out, this period is the ideal time for pondering. According to psychiatrist Thomas Wehr of the US National Institute of Mental Health, the thing that makes this time of night so productive, even sacred, is a hormone called prolactin. Prolactin has a lot of functions: it’s what stimulates mammary glands to produce milk during pregnancy, it’s what prompts hens to happily sit on their eggs for long periods, and it’s what provides the body with gratification and relaxation after sex. Our levels of prolactin are at a peak high during REM sleep. This is why we may experience sensations of peace as well as dreamlike hallucinations during night-waking, possibly leading to periods of creativity. Ekrich also argues that the disappearance of segmented sleep corresponds with an increase in stress, anxiety and sleep disorders. Many people who wake up in the middle of the night assume insomnia is to blame. When they struggle to fall asleep again, they become anxious, and that spills over into their waking life as well. But historically, the period between sleeps was a welcome respite from the hubbub of daily life, and it played an important role in regulating stress. A study by Wehr seems to confirm this notion that segmented sleep comes naturally to humans. In the 1990s, Wehr confined eight healthy men to a completely dark room for fourteen hours a day. At first, the subjects slept for a straight eleven hours. But by the time four weeks had passed, they were following a segmented pattern, sleeping for about four hours, waking up for two to three hours, then going back to bed for another four hours. "For most of evolution we slept a certain way," says sleep psychologist Gregg Jacobs. "Waking up during the night is part of normal human physiology." Of course, our modern school/work/social schedules do not leave much room for segmented sleep (just try bailing on #squad nights out with “Sorry guys, I gotta catch my first sleep.”) But if you do find yourself lying awake in the middle of the night, try not to stress about it. Instead, pick up a pen, write the next chapter of that book you’ve been working on, compose the next verse of that song you’ve been writing, or nudge your pillow neighbor for some nighttime hanky panky. And take comfort in the knowledge that your ancestors slept like this every night, and they were probably better off for it.
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One of the most beautiful things about language is our playful use of it, turning it into puzzles and riddles that are probably confusing and mystifying to outsiders and even to native speakers at times. Idioms - or fixed expressions whose figurative meanings often differ from their literal meanings - are an example of this. Below, I unravel some of the most commonly used idioms in UK and U.S. English.
Cut to the chase (UK and US): To get to the point without wasting time This saying probably originated in the 1920s in the movie industry, referring to the chase scene in a film. Early silent movies often climaxed in an exciting chase scene, so studio executives would use the phrase 'cut to the chase' to mean 'skip the boring dialog and get to the good part'. To have a chip on one's shoulder (UK and US): To hold a grudge; to blame other people for something bad that has happened to you and continue to be angry about it so that it affects your behaviour In 17th century England, shipwrights who worked in the Royal Navy Dockyards were entitled to a certain amount of leftover timber or 'chips', which they would carry home on their shoulders at the end of the day. By 1756, shipwrights were abusing the privilege and taking home more timber than they were allowed, thereby costing taxpayers. So the Navy Board introduced a new rule to limit the amount of timber a shipwright could take home. What's more, from then on in the men were ordered to carry their offcuts of timber under their arms, rather than on their shoulders, since this made it harder to carry a large amount of timber. Almost a hundred years later, in 1830, the first recorded use of 'chip on his shoulder' in the U.S. appeared in the Long Island Telegraph. An article in this paper explained that when a young boy was angry about something and determined to fight, he would place a 'chip' or small piece of wood on his shoulder as a sort of advertisement, daring others to knock it off. If someone accepted his challenge and knocked the chip off his shoulder, it meant that they were ready to fight. Slowpoke (US) and slow coach (UK): A person who acts or moves slowly Both terms mean the same thing, so why does the UK say 'coach' while the U.S. uses 'poke'? From the outside, the UK version is easier to pick apart. A coach is another word for a bus, so the term 'slow coach' is clearly the figurative use of a literal slow-moving vehicle. There are a couple of possible origins of 'slowpoke'. Firstly, it could come from the verb, 'to poke', which means 'to move slowly or dawdle'. Another explanation which appears in the Oxford English Dictionary is that 'poke' derives from 'apooke', a Virginia Algonquian term for tobacco that literally means 'thing for smoking'. In this case, perhaps the figurative 'slowpoke' refers to a literally slow-burning plant. When I first moved to the UK, I harboured a sort of conspiratorial belief that Brits just liked to replace p's with c's sometimes - in this instance above, as well as saying 'hokey cokey' instead of 'hokey pokey'. But I'm pretty sure this is just a coincidence. At the drop of a hat (US and UK): Immediately; without delay In 19th century America, the start of a fight or race was often signalled by someone dropping their hat or sweeping it downward while holding it in one hand. These days, the phrase can be used to describe any action that begins quickly. To give someone the cold shoulder (UK and US) - To deliberately ignore someone in an unfriendly way This one probably refers to a human shoulder - specifically, the cold, backward glance you might give someone over your shoulder while turning your back toward them in disgust or contempt. However, some sources say that 'cold shoulder' actually refers to a cold, inferior cut of meat that you might give to an unwanted guest in order to signal that they have outstayed their welcome. But this is likely to be pseudo-etymology** (see bottom of article) Take with a grain of salt (US) / pinch of salt (UK): To view something with skepticism; to not take something seriously This saying probably derives from Naturalis Historia, an encyclopedic work written by Roman author Pliny the Elder around 77AD, in which he listed 'a grain of salt' as part of a recipe for an antidote to poison. It suggests that the more grievous consequences of poisoning could be avoided by ingesting this antidote - thus the threat could be taken less seriously. Other sources say that the grain of salt was not to relieve the effects of poisoning, but to make swallowing poison more bearable. According to this theory, Roman General Pompey believed he could make himself immune to poison by swallowing small doses of it, and he would add a pinch of salt as a chaser of sorts (like a tequila shot!) ** Pseudo-etymology In doing this research, I came across a very interesting phenomenon called 'pseudo-etymology' or false etymology: a popularly held but false belief about the origins of specific words, often originating in 'common-sense' assumptions. These are sort of like urban legends that tend to imbue words and phrases with a more colorful history than they really have. I suppose we're veering off the idiom track a little, but I find it fascinating nonetheless.
So next time someone tells you that 'shit' stands for 'Ship High In Transit', or that 'news' is an acronym for 'North East West South', try and take it with a grain of salt. |
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