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Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at night?
What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:21:29 -0700, azalea2 wrote: > What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at night? > We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. in BrE it's 'sleep' (noun, colloquial) Derek Turner wrote... > azalea2 wrote: > > in BrE it's 'sleep' (noun, colloquial) I never knew it had a proper name. For almost 65 years I've only ever referred to it - and heard it referred to, as far as I can remember - as 'sleepymen' (-man, I suppose, if only one corner is affected). Mother: "Go and wash your face again, you boyling foul, you've still got sleepymen in your eye-corners."  SignatureNoel > What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at > night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. sleep SignatureLes (BrE) >What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at >night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. I call it "sleep". It is in the OED: sleep, n. d. ... Also spec., the solid substance found in the corners of the eyes and along the edges of the eyelids after sleep. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) Anyone from the US? On Thu, 30 Apr 2009 03:38:43 -0700, azalea2 wrote: > Anyone from the US? They haven't woken up yet. >Anyone from the US? One of the quotations in the OED is American: 1955 J. D. SALINGER in New Yorker 29 Jan. 27/1 He began to massage the side of his face.., removing..a bit of sleep from one eye. SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > Anyone from the US? Sleep. SignatureSkitt (AmE) >> Anyone from the US? > > Sleep. Is that a sentence? I'm asking because upthread I wrote sleep on its own, with no capital letter and no full stop. SignatureLes (BrE) >>> Anyone from the US? >> [quoted text clipped - 5 lines] > > on its own, with no capital letter and no full stop. Huh? It's a word. It answers the question asked in the /Subject/ line. SignatureSkitt (AmE) "Skitt": >> Sleep. Les Danks: > Is that a sentence? If you are the Borg, it's a sentence with an imperative verb. :-) Otherwise, see the "without a verb" thread from last month. > I'm asking because upthread I wrote > sleep > on its own, with no capital letter and no full stop. Whether you call it a sentence or not -- I do -- it is normal to punctuate the one-word answer to a question as a sentence. SignatureMark Brader, Toronto | "This is as 'real' as your so-called life gets!" msb@vex.net | "Q Who", ST:TNG, Maurice Hurley My text in this article is in the public domain. [...] > Whether you call it a sentence or not -- I do -- it is normal to > punctuate the one-word answer to a question as a sentence. Okay. SignatureLes (BrE) > Anyone from the US? "Sleep," for me. Maria Conlon Maria Conlon filted: >> Anyone from the US? > >"Sleep," for me. I grew up calling them "sleepers"...obviously this applies to the dry, granular form only....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? azalea2@gmail.com skrev: > What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at > night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. Technically it is dried rheum. There are many informal terms for it, including poetic ones like "sleepydust" and matter-of-fact ones like "eye gunk". SignatureJens Brix Christiansen In article <8be5b7c7-7e20-4579-a287- 1a50749d0b2e@k19g2000prh.googlegroups.com>, azalea2@gmail.com says... > What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at > night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. When I or my son have it, it's sleep. When the cat has it, it's crud, or eye-snot depending on whether it's solid or not. SignatureLinz Wet Yorks via Cambridge, York, London and Watford My accent may vary > In article <8be5b7c7-7e20-4579-a287- > 1a50749d0b2e@k19g2000prh.googlegroups.com>, azalea2@gmail.com [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > When the cat has it, it's crud, or eye-snot depending on whether > it's solid or not. My daughter, raised bilingual in Spanish and English, made the same observation, calling it "ojo mocos", eye snot. Some words are made, some just grow. SignatureFrank ess > What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at > night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. Sometimes 'sand' (BrE again) -- >> What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at >> night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the >> morning. > > Sometimes 'sand' (BrE again) Sleep or sand, in US. > >> What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at > >> night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > Sleep or sand, in US. Ditto. I'm surprised than no one has mentioned the sandman. SignatureJohn Varela Trade NEWlamps for OLDlamps for email [...] > I'm surprised than no one has mentioned the sandman. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcJ-vS22rI> SignatureLes (BrE) >What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at >night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the morning. While there are a lot of cute names commonly used, I believe it is simply "mucous". Signature************* DAVE HATUNEN (hatunen@cox.net) ************* * Tucson Arizona, out where the cacti grow * * My typos & mispellings are intentional copyright traps * >> What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at >> night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the >> morning. > > While there are a lot of cute names commonly used, I believe it > is simply "mucous". I believe you meant "mucus". "Mucous" ain't a noun. SignatureSkitt (AmE) >>> What do you call the stuff forming at the corner of our eyes at >>> night? We wipe it off or wash it away when we wake up in the [quoted text clipped - 4 lines] > > I believe you meant "mucus". "Mucous" ain't a noun. Well, this thread finally got me to searching something I'd half-remembered: "Blah blah blah wings of the bluebird as she sings The six o'clock alarm would never ring Blah blah [something rhyming with "eyes"] Wipe the sleep out of my eyes... The Monkees, "Daydream Believer", c 1967. Apparently it's: "Oh I could hide 'neath the wings of the bluebird as she sings the six oclock alarm would never ring but it rings and i rise wipe the sleep out of my eyes my shavin' razor's cold and it stings". So that's another mystery solved. Regards Jonathan Jonathan Morton filted: >"Blah blah blah wings of the bluebird as she sings >The six o'clock alarm would never ring [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > >So that's another mystery solved. If another song is of any help: One fine morning, girl, I'll wake up Wipe the sleep from my eyes Go outside and feel the sunshine Then I know I'll realize That as long as you love me, girl, we'll fly ("One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse, 1971)....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? > Jonathan Morton filted: > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > ("One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse, 1971)....r Thanks, I'd always taken "wipe the sleep from one's eyes" to be metaphorical. -- Jerry Friedman actually still might. >Thanks, I'd always taken "wipe the sleep from one's eyes" to be >metaphorical. > >-- >Jerry Friedman actually still might. <aol/>, on both counts. -GAWollman SignatureGarrett A. Wollman | The real tragedy of human existence is not that we are wollman@csail.mit.edu| nasty by nature, but that a cruel structural asymmetry Opinions not those | grants to rare events of meanness such power to shape of MIT or CSAIL. | our history. - S.J. Gould, Ten Thousand Acts of Kindness >> Jonathan Morton filted: >> [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] >Thanks, I'd always taken "wipe the sleep from one's eyes" to be >metaphorical. Me too. SignatureJames > Jonathan Morton filted: > > [quoted text clipped - 25 lines] > > ("One Fine Morning" by Lighthouse, 1971)....r OK, calls for this have gone too-long unheeded: (scat "bung, bung, bung, bung..........) Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream (bung, bung, bung, bung) Make him the cutest that I've ever seen (bung, bung, bung, bung) Give him two lips like roses and clover (bung, bung, bung, bung) Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over. Sandman, I'm so alone Don't have nobody to call my own Please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream. (scat "bung, bung, bung, bung...) Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream Make him the cutest that I've ever seen Give him the word that I'm not a rover Then tell him that his lonesome nights are over. Sandman, I'm so alone Don't have nobody to call my own Please turn on your magic beam Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream. (scat "bung, bung, bung, bung) Mr. Sandman (male voice: "Yesss?) bring us a dream Give him a pair of eyes with a "come-hither" gleam Give him a lonely heart like Pagliacci And lots of wavy hair like Liberace Mr Sandman, someone to hold (someone to hold) Would be so peachy before we're too old So please turn on your magic beam Mr Sandman, bring us, please, please, please Mr Sandman, bring us a dream. (scat "bung, bung, bung, bung..) Howlin' DC -- > OK, calls for this have gone too-long unheeded: > [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > (scat "bung, bung, bung, bung...) [...] Ah, such memories.... The Chordettes were one of my favorite groups when I was a teenager (born in 1943). However: your "bung, bung, bung, bung..." always sounded like "bum, bum, bum, bum..." to me. Maria Conlon, who sang in a choir, a smaller choral group, and a girls' quartet for several years. I was a "second soprano"; nowadays, I'd be an alto. > > Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream (bung, bung, bung, bung) > > Make him the cutest that I've ever seen (bung, bung, bung, bung) [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > However: your "bung, bung, bung, bung..." always sounded like "bum, > bum, bum, bum..." to me. I think that has to be right, Maria; the bungs were from a Googled lyric site. DC -- [...] >> However: your "bung, bung, bung, bung..." always sounded like "bum, >> bum, bum, bum..." to me. > > I think that has to be right, Maria; the bungs were from a Googled > lyric site. You can listen to them on YouTube. I think it sounds less like "bum" than "bung"--which would be an allusion to bunged-up eyes. <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odcJ-vS22rI> SignatureLes (BrE) >OK, calls for this have gone too-long unheeded: > [quoted text clipped - 35 lines] > >Howlin' DC The words are those of a lonely female. Is this a case of a Vivian play the part of a Vivien? SignaturePeter Duncanson, UK (in alt.usage.english) > > OK, calls for this have gone too-long unheeded: > > [quoted text clipped - 39 lines] > > Is this a case of a Vivian play the part of a Vivien? [scratches beer gut, burps, turns on footie results]. No. DC -- BrE filted: >>Mr. Sandman (male voice: "Yesss?) bring us a dream >>Give him a pair of eyes with a "come-hither" gleam [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > >Is this a case of a Vivian play the part of a Vivien? If she actually gets Liberace, she's going to be *very* disappointed....r SignatureA pessimist sees the glass as half empty. An optometrist asks whether you see the glass more full like this?...or like this? > BrE filted: > > [quoted text clipped - 14 lines] > If she actually gets Liberace, she's going to be very > disappointed....r Good call... DC -- |
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