The accuracy of either of these notions aside, it turns out there is a slightly more mundane origin for why it’s “sleep tight.” Specifically, as noted by the Oxford English Dictionary, among others, “tight’s” adverb is “tightly,” which, at the time, was just another word for “soundly.” So, essentially, “to sleep tight” just meant “to sleep soundly,” or “to sleep well.” In fact, one reference even refers to how if a guest had overstayed their welcome, the hosts would loosen the ropes under the mattress as a passive-aggressive way of telling the guests to go on their way.Īnother theory is that since people sometimes slept in long john pajamas back then, it was always advised to make sure your nightgown was tied and buttoned tight, to make sure the bed bugs didn’t get in. If they were loose, the mattress would sag, leaving the bed occupant with an uncomfortable night’s sleep. In order for it to support the mattresses, the ropes needed to be pulled tight. The theory goes that in some cases, beds were supported by ropes tied in a weave, a predecessor to the box-spring. ![]() For starters, one rather interesting theory relates to how some beds were made during the 18th and early 19th centuries. There are a couple of different popular speculative theories out there concerning this, and one much more reasonable one. As Robert Snetsinger, a professor emeritus of entomology at Penn State University, puts it, these inns were “distribution centers for the spread of bed bugs to homes.” The motels and inns near the railroads would be visited by countless travelers, some cleaner than others. Most relevant to the “sleep tight” saying, bed bugs thrived in America with the advent of the railroad. While this isn’t always the case, it certainly was when people began traveling from one place to next. Even Roman philosopher Pliny wrote about bed bugs in his 77 AD work The Natural History, saying that their bites could heal snakebites, ear infections, and other blood ailments (or perceived to be blood ailments) by sucking out the bad blood.īed bugs are usually associated with places that are generally kept somewhat less than clean. The ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes wrote about them in two of his plays. For instance, archaeologists have found fossilized bed bugs in human dwellings in Egypt dating back about 3,550 years ago. Further, according to a theory proposed at New Mexico State University’s College of Agricultural Sciences, the jump likely happened because many humans around this time were sleeping on sheets made of dried grass that were covered in animal skins- an easy hiding spot for the bugs and one which virtually guaranteed a regular food source.īed bugs have been biting humans ever since. Humans are (mostly) hairless and make an easy target for a bed bug. But then around 8,000 BC, the bed bugs moved onto their next meal. Before this, they are thought to have fed off of other warm-blooded animals who liked living in dark, cool places like caves. Most scientists agree the bed bug started its feast on humans around 10,000 years ago. ![]() Let’s start with the bug of it all: the bed bug, or its scientific name- Cimex lectularius. But reminding me that there are very real bugs that may be living in my bed and may bite me while I’m sleeping?! Now, that’s terrifying! So, what is the origin of this phrase and when did bed bugs start biting humans anyway? Nothing put more fear into this author as a child more than being told, right before bedtime, “Sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” I was a logical kid and I knew that ghosts, boogie men, vampires, and the monster living under my bed were all imaginary.
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