Andrews+Ch.+Whatever+Language+Exploration+Activity


 * Andrews Ch. 11 Language Exploration Activity**

EXPLORATION: Catching Some Z's DIRECTIONS: Catching some z's is a way some people in the United States describe sleeping. Try to make a list of other sleeping terms.

List: Crashing Passing out Hit the sack Turn in Go to bed Retire

1. How many terms did you have on your list? I had six other terms.

2. How many ways to you describe sleeping in your own language? Personally, I only use a few of these terms. An interesting aspect of this activity was when I looked at the terms I listed, although I all knew the referred to sleeping, in my mind they didn't necessarily mean sleeping in the same way. For example, "crashing" or "passing out" implies to me getting well-needed and heavy sleep after being really tired. On the other hand, "retiring" or "going to bed" might mean you get ready for bed then read or something before you actually sleep. Usually I just say I'm going to sleep or going to bed.

3. Why do we use different ways of naming the same activity? As I referred to before, I think for different people these terms can mean different things. At one point, someone came up with another, more nuanced way to say sleeping and then people adopted it because it fit certain situations.