idioms
9 useful sleep idioms and phrases
✔ In the land of the living
Starting with the morning, if you say that someone is in the land of the living, you mean that they are awake. This is a humorous phrase, sometimes used of someone who has finally woken up after a lie-in (= a British expression for the time when someone has stayed in bed in the morning later than usual)
In the US and the UK, this is called (sleeping in).
● I was hoping to speak to Klara. Is she in the land of the living, do you know?
✔ Put someone’s feet up
Later in the day, after a period of work, someone may decide to put their feet up, (= to sit down and relax, sometimes with their feet raised off the ground):
– It’s been a long day. I’m gonna go home and put my feet up.
✔ Hit the sack/the hay
In the evening, someone who is about to go to bed may use the informal phrases hit the sack/the hay.
● I’ve got to get up early tomorrow so I’m going to hit the sack.
✔ Turn in for the night
They may also announce that they are turning in for the evening/night:
● I’m quite tired. I think I’m going to turn in for the night.
✔ Sleep like a log/top/baby
If someone sleeps like a log/top/baby, they sleep well, not waking at all for a long period:
● I slept like a log last night – I didn’t even hear the rain.
✔ Out for the count/dead to the world
Someone who is out for the count or dead to the world is sleeping heavily and not likely to wake soon:
● It looks like Tom’s out for the count.
● By the time I came to bed, you were dead to the world.
✔ Go out like a light
If someone goes out like a light, they start to sleep immediately:
● As soon as my head hit the pillow, I went out like a light.
✔ Not to sleep a wink
Sadly, we don’t always sleep well, and there are idioms for this too. Someone who doesn’t sleep a wink, doesn’t sleep at all:
● I didn’t sleep a wink last night with all the noise next door.
✔ Toss and turn
If they sleep badly, moving around a lot in bed because they are worried about something, they may say that they toss and turn:
● I was tossing and turning all night, worrying about the interview.