Etymoleon - Word History, the etymology podcast.

45. Sleep

Leon Bailey-Green Season 1 Episode 45

This episode gets into the origins of sleep-related terminology. Starting with how synonyms for sleep such as rest, nap, slumber and ZZZs entered the English language, we explain a theory as to why it's "forty winks" instead of twenty, thirty or fifty. Learn why the Old English word for snore is connected to rooting for someone to win, and why Australians might refer to a duvet as a doona.