Boo Radley hid gifts for Scout and Jem in the knot-hole of a large, old tree in front of the Radley house. The first gifts the siblings found in the tree were two sticks of gum. Jem cautioned Scout against chewing the gum. He was worried that it might be poisoned. Later, the children found a ball of twine. They left the twine for days, but it remained in the knot-hole. They decided that the gifts were there for them. They eagerly looked forward to finding new items in the knot-hole. Another time, they "pulled out two small images carved in soap. One was the figure of a boy, the other wore a crude dress" (To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapter 7). They also found an old spelling medal and a broken pocket watch on a chain. Scout and Jem were fascinated by the gifts. They even wrote a letter to their mysterious gift-giver. The knot-hole was the place where they always found gifts. They were devastated when Mr. Radley filled the knot-hole with cement.
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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