One of the English expressions that made my students laugh, back when I used to teach a whole bunch of people from all around the world, was “to fall asleep.” On the one hand, with any luck at all, you are not falling anywhere. On the other hand, there is this sensation of sinking into a dreamy state. Or maybe that’s because of the words we use. (Which came first, the thought or the words?) Drifting off to sleep also sounds nice, a solid raft under you as waters take you to a land called sleep.
Speaking of words we use, in Spanish, we don’t fall, or even drift off to sleep, though we can “stay ourselves asleep” (quedarnos dormidos), but that really refers to keeping to your sleeping state as opposed to just beginning it (though I use it for both). The way we get to enter the sleep state in Spanish, rather than banana-peel slipping and falling into it, or getting onto something floating and moving slowly towards the Land of Nod, is by coming to an agreement with sleep.
Conciliar el sueño. (to fall asleep, literally something akin to agree with/reconcile sleep)
Te cuesta mucho conciliar el sueño? Is it very hard for you to fall asleep?
I love the idea that in order for me to enter the sleep state, I must first make an agreement. No falling, no drifting, just well-worded contracts, which I will abbreviate Ks, because I went to law school, and they teach you to do that.
My agreement would look something like this:
The Sleepee is willing to surrender to a certain level of unconsciousness if and only if she is permitted to hop out of it prematurely in case of emergency not limited to bad dreams, danger, fire or having to go to the bathroom. Once the agreed-upon period is slept, which is indicated by an alarm, the Sleepee’s desire to be awake or the Sleepee’s body’s natural sleep cycle having ended, the entity referred to as Sleep will relinquish control of the Sleepee’s body and mind, so that the Sleepee may greet the dawn, and the mountains that live outside.
What would your agreement look like?
Also, apologies to all the insomniacs out there. I am one of those people who falls asleep in the MRI machine, even with all the clanging. Perhaps this is because of my superior sleep-bargaining skills? Or just a whole lot of luck, which is more likely. May I suggest reading about theoretical linguistics or law? Both of these things put me to sleep throughout many thousands of dollars of higher education.
(Sorry, iba a comentar en inglés pero no confío mucho en mis habilidades conjugativas :P)
En realidad lo único que quería era secundar la moción de utilizar doctrina jurídica como facilitador del sueño.
Lo de conciliar el sueño me suena más a una mediación que a un contrato, Por alguna razón imagino que cuerpo y mente viven (y duermen) intentando engañar a la otra parte y que es necesario que me interponga y los obligue a ceder en algo… “¿Si me comprometo a dormir por lo menos siete horas, tú me prometes no despertar a las dos y media de la mañana, cuerpo?”
Nat gana por mas carcajadas producidas últimamente con un comentario en el blog. Lo del inglés o español da igual. Bueno da igual en el sentido que puedo leer ambos, pero no confío tanto en mi español escrito tampoco, o eso al menos sin alguien que me ayude a redactar.
Bueno, dices que debo suplicarle al Sr. (Margaret insiste que es varón) Sueño que me deje dormir lo adecuado, o que el cuerpo y mente tienen que ponerse de acuerdo (conciliar) para que no desperte antes?
Se agradece tu buena voluntad en secundar la moción (y por lo de hacerme reír). Formalizamos el (no tan) contrato entonces?
Eileen, you have superior sleep bargaining skills because you are an attorney. For the rest of us, it’s catch as catch can. I have no problem with “conciliar el sueño.” It’s the “quedarme dormida” that “costs” me. And I had never heard “conciliar el sueño” before . Thanks for edumacatin’ me!
“catch as catch can” is the secret origin of an old chilean/spanish expresion, the “cachacascán”, which in turn refers to wrestling, or lucha libre as a show, like in “en los años del cachacascán, íbamos al centro en micro”. Sorry, it has NOTHING to do with the subject of sleeping, but I couldn´t resist.
Now I can return to my burrow to conciliar el sueño.
Margaret, I like “dormí de largo,” like “pasar de largo,” when you overshoot something. But I know that is not right. It doesn’t make me want to stop saying it though.
We should probably spend weeks thinking about nothing more than the various ways to use “quedar” and “quedarse.” My favorite at the moment is “quedamos en eso” (so we’ve settled on that, which I say not because you don’t know, but because someone else might not).
Marmo, all language comments from you always welcome! Enjoy the burrowing!
Sally, I don’t know, I think it might be because I have a very slow pulse. And I love your use of “costs” in English. Ten points!
As you know, one of the kidlets disagrees vehemently with sleep (though her budding teenagehood makes her “quedarla (?)dormida” much better these days) and one agrees with it strongly. Me? I’ve fallen asleep while having my teeth cleaned. True story.
Michelle, it’s “quedarse dormida.” And yes, she’s has the sleepy now, first time ever! And that you’ve fallen asleep in the dentist chair does not entirely surprise me. One day you will get enough sleep, I think.
I love your language posts! But then, you already knew that! And thanks for the legal interpretation of sleep, that may explain certain misunderstanding I have with Mr Sleep (yes, the gender is correct, because I’m pretty sure a woman would leave me alone long enough to get on with all the falling, drifting, and dreaming one craves in 24-hour cycles.
2 comments on “quedarse dormido”
1-it amazes me how 1 phrase can mean 2 nearly opposite things (fall asleep and oversleep), which brings me to
2-my daughter was very embarrassed that I had to learn–at her expense–that “sobredurmió” is not the right excuse for a mother to write to explain why her daughter was late for school. Everyone on staff chuckled over that one for a good long while–and let me know that I should have said “she overslept.”
reposting so this ends up in the right place for Margaret!
Margaret, I like “dormí de largo,” like “pasar de largo,” when you overshoot something. But I know that is not right. It doesn’t make me want to stop saying it though.
We should probably spend weeks thinking about nothing more than the various ways to use “quedar” and “quedarse.” My favorite at the moment is “quedamos en eso” (so we’ve settled on that, which I say not because you don’t know, but because someone else might not).
What would my agreement be? Unfortunately, I have never made a contract with myself concerning my sleep. I suppose for lack of a contract I could lose everything, but when my pillow is calling, my head naturally descends into it, and it’s ‘lights out’. No time for contracts, no turning back. Of course I am not a lawyer, and this is undoubtedly where my ignorance allows me to sleep: sin contrato pero en mis sueños. This usually turns out to be a very agreeable arrangement for me and my body.
So, do I agree with sleep easily? Yes! With great pleasure: Con mucho gusto.
Te cuesta mucho conciliar el sueño? Only if I use a lawyer for to prepare the contract. In which case: Estaba muy preocupado y no logré conciliarel sueño en toda la noche. Come to think of it, this could be why I don’t go with the contract.
To be serious, I had never heard the use of: Conciliar el sueño in reference to falling or going to sleep, so I find this interesting, and I am grateful to you for the insight.
My Larousse notes that the use of this phrase in this manner is a locution, so do you encounter many who use this term?
Thanks
Ahoy!
I’ve been trying to write here for the past weeks but I’ve been unable due to other commitments, so now that I have 5 minutes I’ll write something.
As much as I have tried to think about it, I have never used the expression “conciliar el sueño”. And I think I’m not alone on that. I think that we chileans say “me voy a dormir” or just plainly “dormir” instead of such intrincated expressions, but since it is almost 10 years since I lived permanently in Chile, it might have changed.
Now, “conciliar” it is a verb that sounds either too formal or too old. It is something that you will hear in a judicial procedure. Or something as formal as that. Ironically I think the verb “reconciliar” is used more often in day to day “chilean”, since it means that you were mad with somebody and you are not anymore (or that somebody was mad at you and is not anymore).
But I cannot think that I have ever used the expression “conciliar el sueño”. I would probably have nightmares about lawyers coming with all sorts of contracts in order for me to fall asleep. No, I think I prefer my plain “dormir” 🙂
Ooh! I love that! Just learned a new expression! Can’t wait to use it. Conciliar el sueno…