Where does the phrase "to sleep like a top" come from and What does it mean?

The phrase “to sleep like a top” means to sleep so soundly as to be utterly quiescent.

Efforts have been made to derive the “top” in this saying from the French taupe, mole, and thus imply that one sleeps as quietly as a mole; but this solution does not hold, for the French idiom is not “dormir comme une taupe”, but “dormir comme un sabot”, in which sabot means a top.

The saving has been in English literature since the late seventeenth century, and from its first appearance the evidence is that the analogy refers to the state of apparent immobility of a rapidly spinning top.

where does the phrase to sleep like a top come from and what does it mean

Why do horses sleep standing up and can they sleep lying down? Horses can doze standing up and spend more time upright than other animals, but get their deepest rest, the so-called REM sleep, only when lying down. In total relaxation, which rapid eye movement…
How Much Sleep Do Giraffes Need and How do They Have the Shortest Sleep Requirements of Any Mammal? The giraffe has one of the shortest sleep requirements of any mammal. Giraffes sleep between ten minutes and two hours in a 24-hour period, averaging about 2 hours per day. Since an adult…
How Did Dinosaurs Sleep and Did Prehistoric Dinosaurs Sleep Standing Up or Lying Down? Dinosaurs probably did sleep, though it's all speculation, because scientists don't know enough about their physiology. The speculations are based on their structures and diets and on the habits of the presumably most…
Why Do Babies Sleep So Much and How Fast Do Babies Grow When They Sleep? One reason babies sleep so much is that human growth factor, made by the pituitary gland, is secreted during sleep in higher concentrations than when the baby is awake. How the body and…
Why Is An Hour of Sleep Before Midnight Worth Two Hours of Sleep After Midnight? It's not true that an hour of sleep before midnight is worth two hours of sleep after midnight. Sleep needs are much more complicated than that. The hour of rising is probably much…
How Do Birds Sleep Without Falling Out of Trees and Do Birds Sleep Laying Down or Standing Up On Perches? Birds have a nifty tendon arrangement in their legs which help them sleep when they are perched. The flexor tendon from the muscle in the thigh reaches down over the knee, continues down…

Where does the phrase “to sleep like a top” come from and What does it mean?

Related Posts

About Karen Hill