Madame Loisel has a most successful evening, dancing the night away while her husband dozes in a corner. When it is time to go home, Monsieur Loisel gathers up some of her everyday things to cover her when they go outside, since it is cold. She does not want anyone to see her in these clothes, since they are not as nice or as fancy as she would like, so she hurries out, and then the couple cannot find a taxi. Eventually, they find a humble carriage, which deposits them at home. When Madame Loisel pauses to admire herself in front of the mirror, reliving her glorious evening, she realizes the necklace is missing. They search everywhere in the house, and then Monsieur Loisel goes out to try to retrace their steps, but he comes home in failure. Thus, Madame Loisel's actions, her haste, her unwillingness to live happily within her means, and her dishonesty set the stage for many years of hard work and grinding poverty.
Does anybody know the etymology of the phrase "sweet dreams"? I tried googling but did not find anything satisfying. Is this a relatively new phrase of the modern world or has this been in use for some time? I think it's the latter one. Answer The OED has the interjection as "a farewell to someone going to bed" from the 20th century: 1908 Sears Roebuck Catal. 198/1 Tenor Solos..Good Bye, Sweet Dreams, Good Bye. But it goes back until at least the 19th and possibly 18th centuries. John Wolcot, writing under the pseudonym of Peter Pindar, used it in his poem "Orson and Ellen; A Legendary Tale" published in 1801: Also from 1801 in The infernal Quixote (Page 287) by Charles Lucas: In the March 1776 of The Universal Magazine was published "The Serenade. A Pastoral Tale. From the German of Gesner" , where the shepherd Daphnis watches over his beloved as she sleeps and sings: The same tale appears in 1776's as Idyl XI, " Daphnis ...
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