I’m intrigued by the origins of sayings and cliches. If I can’t find a reputable source, I’m happy to invent meanings of my own, but today, I don’t have to. Yesterday in passing, someone said, “Sleep on it”. That is a classic throwaway line, like “Every cloud has a silver lining”. I always want to answer, “So what?”.
Sleep on it means: think about it, don’t be hasty, don’t be impulsive. Is that a good idea? It seems so. To confirm, I found a terrific study that seems to validate correctness of sleeping on it. You’ll love it.
A study of a parole board decisions considering the fate of Israeli prisoners found that board members were more likely to grant parole at the start of the day and after they took breaks for food. The problem, researchers said, was “choice overload.” When faced with too many decisions, people were more likely to opt for the default (don’t do it) choice. In these cases, the default was the denial of parole. People were tired of making decisions, or didn’t want to make a mistake, so they acted conservatively.
As fatigue sets in, people tend to respond in one of two ways. They either avoid any choices - do nothing - if possible, or they act impulsively (not useful in parole board members). After lunch, when the glucose in carbohydrates helped to replenish the brain, the parole board members were more generous, again granting parole. For the future, if you are up for parole, try to get in first thing in the morning or right after lunch. Maybe bring snacks for the parole board.
BTW, just so you ‘sleep tight’ and ‘wake up the right side of the bed’, here is the AI (be terrified of AI) explanation. The idiom “sleep on it” originated in 1519 when King Henry VIII said in state papers, “His Grace ... said that he would sleep and dream upon the matter”. I dream about being late to class or misplacing one of my children; good thing I’m not Royal.
The other idiom, “Every cloud has a silver lining” originates from a line in John Milton's 1634 poem “Comus,” where he describes a dark cloud “turning forth her silver lining on the night”. The silver lining refers to the bright edge of a cloud illuminated by the sun, symbolizing a positive element within the negative situation. This is sooo educational, you can probably get CEUs in your chosen field.
Want to read the original study? It has a lot more to say. Extraneous factors in judicial decisions by Shai Danziger, Jonathan Levav jl2351@columbia.edu, and Liora Avnaim-PessoAuthors Info & Affiliations 2011, 108 (17) 6889-6892 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1018033108
Want better reading? Watch for Not The Trip We Planned, coming out in March, 2025. Koehler Publishers edited in the morning, so I expect good results.
I recently had to shop for a mattress for the first time in decades. It's not like I'm in a profession or life style where you "wear out your bed" like you might shoes or work clothes--or need an "upgrade" because you have a promotion. I've promoted myself into retirement anyway. But I do still sleep.
But it does seem that now beds are not just furniture--they are "life style" and "health care" and "well-being" necessities--as well as signals of your environmental commitment. Now I know well the importance of sleep to both physical and mental health but it appears that beds are now also signifiers of status and politics--or at least send social signals
There were purple beds with…