![]() There are multiple origin theories around the rhyme, specifically the Huffington Post 2018 'Here’s Why People Say ‘Don’t Let The Bedbugs Bite’ The following citations thought provide much food for thought: The exact etymology of the entire phrase you question is unclear. The precise phrase ‘Good-night, Sleep tight, Don’t let the bedbugs bite’ first appears in the 1896 book ‘What They Say in New England: A Book of Signs, Sayings, and Superstitions’, and it later appeared in a 1923 text by F. May you sleep tight, where the bugs don’t bite!’. In a novel called ‘Boscobel’ written in 1881 by Emma Mersereau Newton, a boy says to his parents, ‘Good night, sleep tight And don’t let the buggers bite.’ And in the 1884 book ‘Boating Trips’ by Henry Parker Fellows, a little girl says ‘Good-night. ![]() One version from the 1860s is ‘Good night, sleep tight, wake up bright in the morning light, to do what’s right, with all your might.’ Some historians refute these theories and point to the Oxford English Dictionary, which claims ‘sleep tight’ simply means to ‘sleep soundly’.Įtymologist Barry Popik claims the rhyme actually originated in the USA in the 1860s, and in some versions the biting referred to mosquitoes. This source is so good I've included a bit below. Like any good rhymes the origin is in dispute. Good night, Sleep tight, Don't let the bedbugs bite. ![]() It begins with the rhyme that good parents (from at least the 50's) tell their children as they tuck them into bed and immobility.
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