As soon as Elie arrives at the work camp of Buna he goes through a perfunctory medical inspection. The primary purpose of the inspection is to see which prisoners had gold crowns. They would be examined by the dentist who would extract them. Elie avoids the extraction by telling the dentist he is sick. Elie reveals that this dentist had been running a "private traffic" of prisoner's gold. He was hanged by the SS. Soon, however, Franek, a foreman at the electrical warehouse, discovers Elie's gold tooth and demands it. Elie refuses but Franek begins to torment Elie's father. Because the old man is not good at "marching in step," Franek takes the opportunity to beat him every time he takes a misstep. Eventually Elie gives in and agrees to allow Franek to extract the gold crown. Franek laughs and even tells Elie he will take his ration of bread because the boy had kept him waiting. The tooth is pulled by a "famous dentist from Warsaw" in the lavatory "with the aid of a rusty spoon." Afterward, Franek becomes much kinder to Elie by sometimes giving him an extra ration of soup, but then, ironically, is quickly transferred. Elie comments, "I had lost my crown for nothing."
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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