Useful English words to talk about sleep

Sleep, we all need it. Most of us even look forward to it after a long day, and we most certainly need it in order to think clearly and function. Sometimes we might even need to take a rest during the day just to make it through. So let’s discuss useful words which describe sleep, rest, or lack thereof.

Let’s start with ways of saying you are going to rest during the day. If someone says, “I’m going to take a cat nap” it means they are going to go for a rest. Think about it, how often do cats nap? A lot!

Another way of saying you’re taking a nap is “I’m going to grab a little shut-eye.” This one seems simple enough, you are going to shut your eyes for a little bit.

Lastly, ‘a power nap’ is a quick and useful way of getting a bit of energy back into your body. It is said that a short 30-40 minute nap is better and more energizing than a 1-2 hour sleep.

If you’re ready to go to sleep, then you can say you’re ready to ‘turn in’ for the night or you’re ready to ‘hit the sack’. This simply means you’re going to bed. You might also say that you want to ‘catch some zzzs’. In cartoons, the letter ‘z’ is often used in a bubble over someone’s head when they are sleeping.

Lastly, if you perhaps had a rough day at work or you have a lot on your mind, you might not be able to fall asleep, or ‘can’t get a wink of sleep’. This means you can’t sleep at all. But maybe you can sleep but you are a ‘light sleeper’, someone who is easily awoken.

Sometimes, when we don’t get enough sleep, it shows and we can get grumpy. So, your friend might ask you, “Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?”

After a day of hard work, or having had no sleep the night before, you will hopefully be ‘out like a light’, or asleep very quickly just like the flick of a light switch.

There are many more sleepy time idioms that we could discuss, but now I think it’s time for you get your ‘beauty sleep’ so you can be refreshed and ready for a new day tomorrow!

Uggboyugggirl