SLEEP 1

We spend nearly one third of our lives in SLEEP.  In this post,let us reflect on the words and expressions associated with sleep in the English language.

When you are not sleeping, you are AWAKE. When you are awake, you are conscious of your surroundings.  You are aware of what is happening around you.

When you are having sound sleep,you are not aware of what is happening around you. Sleep can be described as DEEP SLEEP or DISTURBED SLEEP.

There is an acronym associated with sleep. It is REM.

REM means Rapid Eye Movement. Before we fall asleep,we have rapid eye movement.  When children fall asleep, one can notice rapid eye movements.

During sleep,we DREAM.  In dream, we experience things as in real life. But once you wake up,the dream vanishes.  So dream has no reality.

When somebody lives in a DREAM WORLD,what the person believes to be true has no basis in reality.

There is a belief that our dreams have significance.  So people start interpreting dreams.  Dr. Sigmund Freud is well-know for his interpretation of dreams.  Each culture has its own way of interpreting dreams.

Some people think that dreams PORTEND something which will happen in future.

When you have a great desire to achieve something in life,you say," I HAVE A DREAM". When you are successful in achieving what you desired,you say," I have realized my dream."

Sometimes we sleep in the daytime,especially after lunch for a short period. It is called NAP.This word can be used both as a noun and verb. It is said that a short nap has beneficial effects on one's health. There is an expression," He was caught napping " . It means that the person was inattentive.

SLUMBER is a synonym for sleep. This word can be used both as a noun and as a verb. Remember, it is a literary word.

He is in deep slumber.  It means that he is asleep.

While listening to a lecture in which you are not much interested,you start DOZING.  Doze is a light sleep.

You SNOOZE sometimes in your sofa.  SNOOZE is also a light sleep, not on your bed.

Another synonym for light sleep is DROWSE.

CATNAP is another word for a short sleep. This word can be used both as  a verb and as a noun.

If you have a tendency to sleep unusually for a long time,then you are LETHARGIC. The noun is LETHARGY.  It means laziness.

When something is not active,we use the word " DORMANT ".

This word comes from the French word comes" Dormir " which means " to sleep".

When a person faints,he or she is temporarily unconscious. There may be many reasons for fainting. The more serious condition is COMA.  Coma is a state in which the person is unconscious for a very long time and needs medical help for restoring normalcy.The reasons for Coma may be injury to the brain.

I shall continue this subject in my subsequent posts.

Sayee Jayaraman

19/02/2015