Mattress Archives – A Way with Words

A Way with Words

About
Episodes
Podcast
Radio
New Event 10/20!
Contact
Your Support
Explore
- Recommended Reference Works
- Store
Our Mission

A fun radio show and podcast about language examined through family, history, and culture.

Contact

Ask your language questions: (877) 929-9673 or by email. More »

Listen

Podcast Apps • Radio Stations • All Episodes

Donate to A Way with Words. Your support makes the radio show and podcast possible.

Currently viewing the tag: "Mattress"

Dirty Laundry (#episode 1520)

Posted by Grant Barrett on March 11, 2019 · Add Comment

When you had sleepovers as a child, what did you call the makeshift beds you made on the floor? In some places, you call those bedclothes and blankets a pallet. This word comes from an old term for “straw.” And: What’s the story behind the bedtime admonition “Sleep tight, and don’t let the bedbugs bite”? [...]

Straw-Related Etymologies

Posted by Grant Barrett on March 9, 2019 · Add Comment

The Spanish word for straw is paja. In Italian, it’s paglia, which also gives us the name of the opera Il Pagliacci, the Italian word for clowns. In the past, clown costumes were made of the same fabric used to cover straw mattresses. This is part of a complete episode.

“Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite” Origin

Posted by Grant Barrett on March 9, 2019 · Add Comment

Claire from Wilmington, North Carolina, wants to know the origin of the phrase “sleep tight, don’t let the bedbugs bite.” She heard a story she heard about the saying having to tightening ropes that support mattresses, which is not the origin. Sometimes this phrase involves insects other than bedbugs, such as mosquitos or fleas. It’s [...]

Including the Scandinavian

Posted by Grant Barrett on November 24, 2012 · Add Comment

Why can’t you tear the tag off a mattress? And why do old books say that the right of translation into foreign languages, including the Scandinavian, is reserved? These bits of jargon, not necessarily intended for the consumer, have seeped into our language because of nuanced copyright laws and the like. This is part of [...]

Newsletter

Contact

Listen

Dirty Laundry (#episode 1520)

Straw-Related Etymologies

“Don’t Let the Bedbugs Bite” Origin

Including the Scandinavian