the.com/forty winks
A nap so small it's measured in eyelid twitches, yet powerful enough to reboot a king.
means A short nap, especially a brief daytime doze.
from An English phrase from the early 19th century, where 'winks' had long meant moments of sleep (to 'not sleep a wink' is the same idea, much older). 'Forty' here isn't literal — in older English it was a stock word for 'a fair number,' the same vague-but-vivid 'forty' you find in 'forty days and forty nights.' So 'forty winks' simply means 'a good handful of winks,' i.e., a quick sleep.
- first appearance
- Printed phrase dates to 1820s England
- the number
- Forty long meant simply many, not literal
- royal nappers
- Churchill swore by midday power naps
- science says
- Ten-minute naps boost alertness for hours
for instance
rip van winkle — washington irving's 1819 fictional character who slept for 20 years in the catskill mountains
sleepyhead mattress company — finnish bed company founded in 1929, uses 'forty winks' as marketing slogan