Sometime during the sixteenth century, British farmers moved from sleeping on the ground to sleeping in beds.
These beds were little more than straw-filled mattress tied to wooden frames with ropes.
To secure the mattress before sleeping, you pulled on the ropes to tighten them, and that’s when they began saying, “Goodnight, sleep tight.”
As we uncover the origins and meaning of the phrase ‘goodnight, sleep tight,’ our journey extends beyond bedtime etiquette, providing intriguing language insights into the cultural and linguistic nuances that have shaped this charming expression.
