Origin of # of sleeps?

[LakeMcD]

Just wondering where this convention of speech came from.

 

[wayfarer]

I don't know about any place else but in Ireland it was a way of telling children how many days were left until a particular event, like "there are three sleeps left until Santa Claus comes" It just started being used generaly after that.

 

[Deleted member 3000]

I think it derives from the U.S. military countdown to getting out of a war zone: Thirty and a wake-up.

...and a wake-up
(U.S.) Term used following a particular period of time to reference how many complete days or watches plus the time spent on the last day leaving a service member has before a tour of duty or field evolution is complete, e.g.: "Two days and a wake up, and I'm gone!"

 

[grayland]

I have heard it used with children since I was a small child...and that was a lot of sleeps ago.

 

[Icacos]

As an immigrant to Canada, I heard the expression for the first time as an adult, only after my kids came along. It certainly seemed a lot more specific than "how many more days until ....... "

 

[rlang290]

I first heard it in the Army as well.
I remember being posted overseas and it was always "(X number of days) and a wakie". That was until you were really close to returning home. Then you were a "short-timer". There were lots of ways to express how "short" you were. My favorite?
"I'm so short I could skydive off the edge of a dime."

Ron

 

[Deleted member 3000]

"(X number of days) and a wakie"

I just don't see a Marine using the term "wakie." Well, maybe if he left his blankie at home...

 

[cher99840]

I just don't see a Marine using the term "wakie." Well, maybe if he left his blankie at home...

Cultural jargon. I like "wakie".

 

[John Finn]

I find it extremely irritating. Fine when used by a child under 10 but adults using it makes them sound infantile. What are you, a kid? Say (number of) days, not sleeps, for Gawd's sake, people. Besides, if you're an insomniac, "sleeps" and "days" may not necessarily coincide so accuracy demands the latter and not the former.

 

[rlang290]

I just don't see a Marine using the term "wakie." Well, maybe if he left his blankie at home...

Lol! I've worked with plenty of Marines and I have no problem imagining any one of them saying it!

 

[Icacos]

I know some big, strapping guys Down Under who say "barbie" for barbecue. Is something wrong with that?

 

[Betty Bauer]

I noticed it's use online (i.e. - facebook) several years ago. I thought it was somehow related to Native American culture. Most of the time when I see it, it refers to something exciting happening in an approx. 10-20 days time period.

 

[MTtoCamino]

I am retired military it has been around since at least the 60's, but I know I am not going to feel bad to say 1 more day & a wake up. Simply reminds me of how tough it is to leave your brothers yet how exciting it is to go home to your family.
This is all human stuff time to go back to the joy of walking the Camino. So Gary 17 days & a wake up!

 

[Mark Lee]

I first heard it in the Army as well.
I remember being posted overseas and it was always "(X number of days) and a wakie". That was until you were really close to returning home. Then you were a "short-timer". There were lots of ways to express how "short" you were. My favorite?
"I'm so short I could skydive off the edge of a dime."

Ron

Ha ha....nice.
As the date got closer we used to say "I'm a double-digit (or single-digit) midget", or things like "five days and a bowl of wheaties".

 

[CaminoDebrita]

Ha ha....nice.
As the date got closer we used to say "I'm a double-digit (or single-digit) midget", or things like "five days and a bowl of wheaties".

I'm eight sleeps from retirement, a single-digit midget, a week and a squeak from it, eight cups of coffee out!

I'm a wrinkle in time and a short heatwave from the last morning. Just trying so hard to be patient with all of those sixteen-year-olds who are finally conquering and turning in a three-page essay about a film in the heroic journey paradigm (think Joseph Campbell, Hero of a Thousand Faces).

Sigh! This last week or so has been dragging on for about three months, if not more.

 

[VNwalking]

A long tortuous denouement, from the sound of it. Well, may the next week pass easily and quickly.
I love how you've been reinventing yourself...with a new avatar, a new forum name...and soon you'll walk out of the classroom for the last time into another life, and red pens will be fun again.
And when you finally set boots on the ground on the Camino, we will all be cheering!
(And only one cup of coffee per day? I'm impressed.)

 

[Griffin57]

105 sleeps to my next Camino can't wait to be a single digit midget! But I am glad I still have training time.
Sorry, completely off topic but @ CaminoDebrita you do not look old enough to be retiring!!!

 

[wayfarer]

I think that there is no connection between so many sleeps and so many days and a wake up, one is for children and as been around since I was a kid when we had no knowledge of American military jargon. They have two completely different origins IMO.

 

[VNwalking]

105 sleeps to my next Camino can't wait to be a single digit midget! But I am glad I still have training time.
Sorry, completely off topic but @ CaminoDebrita you do not look old enough to be retiring!!!

Agreed! But I find I can't tell anymore...and my doctor looks scarily young.
So...for me it is ??? sleeps til my next camino. Who knows about that either.

 

[Mark Lee]

I think that there is no connection between so many sleeps and so many days and a wake up, one is for children and as been around since I was a kid when we had no knowledge of American military jargon. They have two completely different origins IMO.

I believe you are correct. Different origins, but similar meanings. Same same, but different.

 

[CaminoDebrita]

105 sleeps to my next Camino can't wait to be a single digit midget! But I am glad I still have training time.
Sorry, completely off topic but @ CaminoDebrita you do not look old enough to be retiring!!!

Griffin: must be all that clean living!

56 in September. I'm not exactly retired, either. I will continue working, but am definitely retiring from full-time English teacher at the high school level. It's too much, much too much reading.

 

[Coleen Clark]

I find it extremely irritating. Fine when used by a child under 10 but adults using it makes them sound infantile. What are you, a kid? Say (number of) days, not sleeps, for Gawd's sake, people. Besides, if you're an insomniac, "sleeps" and "days" may not necessarily coincide so accuracy demands the latter and not the former.

Someone needs a nap.

 

[Coleen Clark]

I noticed it's use online (i.e. - facebook) several years ago. I thought it was somehow related to Native American culture. Most of the time when I see it, it refers to something exciting happening in an approx. 10-20 days time period.

There is a town in Wyoming called "Ten Sleep". It is ten nights on the trail between Native American Summer and Winter camps.