Meaning:
To sleep very soundly.
Background:
To say that one feels tired enough to sleep on a clothesline seems like a
mere fanciful metaphorical way of saying one is extremely sleepy. No one
would expect you to actually balance on a line and the idea that the phrase
originated from such a literal event sets the folk-etymology alarm bells
ringing full pelt. Nevertheless, there are well attested stories that, during
the depression of the 1930s, destitute men did spent their nights hanging
over ropes which were strung across rooms for them to sleep on.
In Down and Out in Paris and London, 1933, George Orwell recorded a London
sleeping establishment, known as The Twopenny Hangover, with just such an
arrangement:
At the Twopenny Hangover, the lodgers sit in a row on a bench; there is a
rope in front of them, and they lean on this as though leaning over a
fence. A man, humorously called the valet, cuts the rope at five in the
morning. I have never been there myself, but Bozo had been there often. I
asked him whether anyone could possibly sleep in such an attitude, and he
said that it was more comfortable than it sounded - at any rate, better
than bare floor. There are similar shelters in Paris, but the charge there
is only twenty-five centimes (a halfpenny) instead of twopence.
...
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn't this amazing?! The saying was once literal and people actually slept on
clothlines. Hard times aside, the idea sounds ingenious. In school, I used to
doze off at my desk while sitting on a stool, but at least I had a flat surface
to rest on. I'd never imagine a rope would do. Obviously people even managed to
sleep soundly on it but I wouldn't blame them if they woke up rude when the
valet cut the cord.
Pictures of a wierd format (hard to copy&paste) can be found at
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-10-04/sleeping-on-a-washing-line
The guy to the left in the first photo looks like Charlie Chaplin :-)
Coping from 我在几坛（别人帖下）的跟帖（sorry for the copied font)：
Meaning:
To sleep very soundly.
Background:
To say that one feels tired enough to sleep on a clothesline seems like a
mere fanciful metaphorical way of saying one is extremely sleepy. No one
would expect you to actually balance on a line and the idea that the phrase
originated from such a literal event sets the folk-etymology alarm bells
ringing full pelt. Nevertheless, there are well attested stories that, during
the depression of the 1930s, destitute men did spent their nights hanging
over ropes which were strung across rooms for them to sleep on.
In Down and Out in Paris and London, 1933, George Orwell recorded a London
sleeping establishment, known as The Twopenny Hangover, with just such an
arrangement:
At the Twopenny Hangover, the lodgers sit in a row on a bench; there is a
rope in front of them, and they lean on this as though leaning over a
fence. A man, humorously called the valet, cuts the rope at five in the
morning. I have never been there myself, but Bozo had been there often. I
asked him whether anyone could possibly sleep in such an attitude, and he
said that it was more comfortable than it sounded - at any rate, better
than bare floor. There are similar shelters in Paris, but the charge there
is only twenty-five centimes (a halfpenny) instead of twopence.
...
- www.phrases.org.uk [edited]
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Isn't this amazing?! The saying was once literal and people actually slept on
clothlines. Hard times aside, the idea sounds ingenious. In school, I used to
doze off at my desk while sitting on a stool, but at least I had a flat surface
to rest on. I'd never imagine a rope would do. Obviously people even managed to
sleep soundly on it but I wouldn't blame them if they woke up rude when the
valet cut the cord.
Pictures of a wierd format (hard to copy&paste) can be found at
https://www.itv.com/news/granada/2019-10-04/sleeping-on-a-washing-line
The guy to the left in the first photo looks like Charlie Chaplin :-)
Coping from 我在几坛（别人帖下）的跟帖（sorry for the copied font)：
（上大学时）班里同学年龄差15，6岁。最大的老大哥是北京四中的老高三，人非常聪明，还特幽默。 大四那年夏天去上海实习，老大哥提议我们（9人一小组）在南京下车玩儿半天，不记得那天玩了什么地方，只记得误了最后的火车，我们在火车站前的水泥地上过了一夜。
老大哥用晾衣绳儿把所有行李穿起来，把绳头系在他的手腕上，然后说：你们放心在行李圈儿里睡吧。我看着打个盹儿就行了。 多好的老大哥啊 ，好想他 。。。（他85年去了美国，在那里做的很好。但因肺癌63岁就去世了）