Nothing But the Truth by Avi is a book written from several points of view, where each person tells a different "truth." The main character, Philip, decides his English teacher, Miss Narwin, does not like him because she gives him poor grades and has high expectations for his work, so in trying to get out of her class, he disrupts her homeroom class by humming the "National Anthem." The rules clearly state that students should "stand at respectful, silent attention" during the playing of the anthem, but when Miss Narwin sends Philip to the assistant principal's office for being disruptive, Phil tells the AP that Miss Narwin just does not like him. Later, this becomes fodder for the newspaper, which accuses Miss Narwin of stifling Philip's patriotism. Miss Narwin never really follows up by calling Philip's parents or getting her truth across to the newspaper reporter, and in the end, she resigns and Philip does not get to run track due to his grades. He ends up leaving the school. Philip starts the ball rolling, causing his situation, as well as Miss Narwin's, to become ones he can't turn back from. Everyone loses because the whole truth never comes out.
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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