Re: Catch some zzz's

Posted by Brian from Shawnee on February 09, 2007

In Reply to: Re: Catch some zzz's posted by Brian from Shawnee on February 05, 2007

: : : :
: : : : My 6 year old wants to know why people sometimes use the phrase, "Catch some zzz's," when referring to sleeping or napping. Any help with the origin of this slang would be much appreciated.

: : : : Thank you,

: : : : Susan

: : : ZZZZ is the conventional cartoon representation of sleeping noises (big letters if it's snoring, smaller letters if it's just napping.)

: : Cartoonists have been using "zzz" to represent sleep for at least 50 years, according to "The Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File, New York, 1997).

: I wonder if people in Canada and the U.K. say "catch some zed's" or "catch some zee's"?

OK, in case you were wondering: Canadians say "catch some zee's". This is according to my Anglophone Canadian source.