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Discussion Groups / English Usage / November 2006peeps
Hi, native speakers of English, I just read that the word "peeps" can mean "sleep". Can you tell me where and how it is used? Thanks, Ho  SignatureIf you mail me direct take the ho out of freesesho@web.de > Hi, native speakers of English, > > I just read that the word "peeps" can mean "sleep". Can you tell me > where and how it is used? Do you have more context? Where did you read this? SignatureLinz Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford My accent may vary Amethyst Deceiver schrieb: > Do you have more context? Where did you read this? Unfortunately no context. Found it in the online slang dictionary Slang and colloqialisms of the UK, ww.peevish.co.uk/slang/p.tm Ho I thought Peeps were those sugary marshmallow baby chicks that you see at Easter. Don > I thought Peeps were those sugary marshmallow baby chicks that you see > at Easter. Yes. And purple rabbits, and now punkins for the fall season. >> I thought Peeps were those sugary marshmallow baby chicks that you >> see at Easter. > > Yes. And purple rabbits, and now punkins for the fall season. Don't _ever_ microwave those! SignatureFrank ess >>> I thought Peeps were those sugary marshmallow baby chicks that you >>> see at Easter. >> >> Yes. And purple rabbits, and now punkins for the fall season. > > Don't _ever_ microwave those! Ooops! Too late. Now, seriously, can anyone refer me to an expert on microwave repair? There is a place on the floor of my MW where the paint blistered and chipped away, and now the efficiency of the MW is very poor. No sign of any tendency to make sparks or start a fire. I asked at the local hardware store, but they had no idea. I got the MW 20+ years ago for $140, and it has served me well, but if I could repair it for under $10, I would. Don't like spending money. However, I see an equivalent MW oven for under $50, and may go for it if I can't save the old one. > Hi, native speakers of English, > > I just read that the word "peeps" can mean "sleep". Can you tell me > where and how it is used? Generally, no. But OED offers a clue for "peep": d. dial. and U.S. After a negative, a short interval (of sleep), a wink. 1905 R. Beach Pardners (1912) ii. 49 Most people called him crazy, 'cause he had fits of goin' for days without a peep. SignatureJohn Dean Oxford >Hi, native speakers of English, > >I just read that the word "peeps" can mean "sleep". Can you tell me where >and how it is used? >Thanks, I have never seen or heard it used. The online (British) Dictionary of Slang includes it: http://www.peevish.co.uk/slang/p.htm peeps Noun. 1. Sleep. 2. People. The only example I've found online where "peeps" is used in connection with sleep is in a story by the American author Jack London (1876–1916). However, in this text "peeps of sleep" is used to mean "brief and furtive periods of sleep". The author: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_London The story: http://www.literature.org/authors/london-jack/the-faith-of-men/chapter-01.html (The speaker is being chased by a fearsome large animal -- a Mammoth. The chase lasted many days.) "My clothes went to rags and tatters, but I never stopped to mend, till at last I ran naked as a son of earth, with nothing but the old hand-axe in one hand and a cobble in the other. In fact, I never stopped, save for peeps of sleep in the crannies and ledges of the cliffs." "peep" is being used metaphorically. It is used to suggest a manner of sleeping that is related to normal sleeping in the way that "peeping" is related to normal "looking". Perhaps someone else can find the origins of today's use of "peeps" to mean "sleep". SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) >Hi, native speakers of English, > >I just read that the word "peeps" can mean "sleep". Can you tell me where >and how it is used? In my experience, never. Wildly guessing, I would say it has something to do with Little Bo Peep and her sheep since counting sheep is allegedly a trick to induce sleep. SignatureTony Cooper Orlando, FL Tony Cooper schrieb: > In my experience, never. Wildly guessing, I would say it has > something to do with Little Bo Peep and her sheep since counting sheep > is allegedly a trick to induce sleep. I also found - in Jonathon Green's Cassell's Dictionary of Slang - peepy, peeping, adj, meaning sleepy, drowsy. Thank you all for your prompt response, Ho >Tony Cooper schrieb: >> In my experience, never. Wildly guessing, I would say it has [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] >I also found - in Jonathon Green's Cassell's Dictionary of Slang - peepy, >peeping, adj, meaning sleepy, drowsy. That suggests, to me, peeping through almost-closed eyelids. >Thank you all for your prompt response, > >Ho > SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Tony Cooper schrieb: > > In my experience, never. Wildly guessing, I would say it has [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > I also found - in Jonathon Green's Cassell's Dictionary of Slang - peepy, > peeping, adj, meaning sleepy, drowsy. Peepy is in the 1811 Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue with the same meaning of drowsy. I caution you that 99% of the entries in that book have long vanished, except, perhaps, in historical fiction. The same list has "peepers" meaning "eyes," which survived at least to 1938, when the song "Jeepers, Creepers" (where'd you get those peepers?) was written by Johnny Mercer and Harry Warren. SignatureBest -- Donna Richoux |
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