sleep – Learning English and Japanese

Nekubi wo Kaku (寝首をかく – Catching Someone off Guard)

Nekubi wo Kaku 寝首を掻く Getting caught off guard with a dirty trick is called nekubi wo kaku (寝首をかく) in Japanese.

Neguse 寝癖 Somehow I often have a neguse (寝癖). 私はよく「寝癖」がつきます。 Since ne (寝) means “sleep” and kuse (癖) usually means

Nen-nen Korori ねんねんころり I think that the most well-known traditional lullaby in Japan is Edo Komoriuta (江戸子守唄 – “Edo Lullaby”).

Fumin Fukyū 不眠不休 When you do something without sleeping or resting, it is referred to as ‘fumin fukyū‘ (不眠不休) in

Doro no You ni Nemuru 泥のように眠る I will ‘doro no you ni nemuru‘ (泥のように眠る) tonight. 私は今晩、「泥のように眠る」と思います。 ‘Do ro no you

Neshōgatsu 寝正月 Happy New Year. あけましておめでとうございます。 This year I have done ‘neshōgatsu‘ (寝正月). 今年は「寝正月」をしました。 ‘Ne‘ (寝) means “sleep” and ‘shōgatsu‘

Uto Uto and Utsura Utsura 「うとうと」と「うつらうつら」 Yesterday, I introduced you to the term ‘inemuri‘ (居眠り), which means to fall asleep

Inemuri 居眠り Today, I did ‘inemuri‘ (居眠り) for just a few minutes. 私は今日、ほんの数分程「居眠り」をしてしまいました。 Inemuri means to fall asleep unwillingly when

Oyasumi おやすみ The most common phrase used when you go to bed in Japan is ‘oyasumi‘ (おやすみ). 日本の就寝時の挨拶でもっとも一般的なのは「おやすみ」です。 If you