Forty winks
Encyclopedia
To take forty winks is to take a nap for a short period of time (usually not in bed), or to take a short sleep during the day. The term Forty winks is an English
idiomatic noun that can be used in the singular or plural. This can be used in sayings such as "Tom had 40 winks during his dinner hour, while Brett was busy at work".
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.
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.
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.
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.
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, "King’s Evidence" 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.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
idiomatic noun that can be used in the singular or plural. This can be used in sayings such as "Tom had 40 winks during his dinner hour, while Brett was busy at work".
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.
Use in literature
To emphasise that forty winks was a nap not taken in a bed Lewis CarrollLewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
used the idiom in his novel Sylvie and Bruno
Sylvie and Bruno
Sylvie and Bruno, first published in 1889, and its 1893 second volume Sylvie and Bruno Concluded form the last novel by Lewis Carroll published during his lifetime. Both volumes were illustrated by Harry Furniss....
when the main protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
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.
To emphasise that forty winks was just the right amount of sleep if a nap was to be taken F. Scott Fitzgerald
F. Scott Fitzgerald
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was an American author of novels and short stories, whose works are the paradigm writings of the Jazz Age, a term he coined himself. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest American writers of the 20th century. Fitzgerald is considered a member of the "Lost...
in a short article titled "Gretchen’s Forty Winks", published in the Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post
The Saturday Evening Post is a bimonthly American magazine. It was published weekly under this title from 1897 until 1969, and quarterly and then bimonthly from 1971.-History:...
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.
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
HMAS Perth (D29)
HMAS Perth was a Modified Leander class light cruiser operated by the Royal Australian Navy during World War II. She was constructed for the Royal Navy , and commissioned as HMS Amphion in 1936...
, 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.
Finally almost so as to emphasise the link between forty winks and its biblical relationship William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley
William Ernest Henley was an English poet, critic and editor, best remembered for his 1875 poem "Invictus".-Life and career:...
and Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Stevenson
Robert Louis Balfour Stevenson was a Scottish novelist, poet, essayist and travel writer. His best-known books include Treasure Island, Kidnapped, and Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde....
in their play, "King’s Evidence" 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.