6 ms·

Body parts “fall asleep” in English. What about in other languages?

32 points by curtis 9y ago

smnrchrds 9y ago
I didn't know "fall sleep" worked in English too. The phrase used in Persian [0] would translate to the same thing. [0] خواب رفتن, transliteration: "khab raftan"
red75prime 9y ago
In Russian they don't fall asleep by themselves, it is you who make them so. 'Я отлежал руку' - I made my arm fall asleep by lying on it.
- p1esk 9y ago
  "рука затекла"
  - red75prime 9y ago
    Right, it seems to be more commonly used.
  - iliaznk 9y ago
    My arm has gone numb.
pluma 9y ago
The German phrases (Ameisenlaufen, pelzige Haut) seem odd. As a native German I've never heard of them and there's a grammatical error in the second one (it's cited as "pelziges Haut", the grammatical gender of the adjective and noun don't match up: Haut is feminine but pelziges indicates neuter). He doesn't seem to be a native speaker so I'd take that claim with a grain of salt.
- fullmoon 9y ago
  Ameisenlaufen is used in Austria quite a bit. Never heard pelzige Haut.
  - gsich 9y ago
    "einschlafen" or the dialect forms are common too.
- btschaegg 9y ago
  When it comes to Switzerland, I only ever witnessed the phrase using "einschlafen" (fall asleep) as well. I never heard of the other two. Also: I think I would still get the "ants" idiom (just based on the feeling itself), but the furry skin part really puzzles me.
oeuviz 9y ago
The pins and needles part is closest to what it't called in Serbo-Croatian, guess it's the modernized version of what is found in nature. In SH(BS/HR/SR) you'd say "trne mi ruka" which would translate to "my hand is thorning" as in using thorn as a verb.
- Swizec 9y ago
  In Slovenian we say that our hand is ant-y, "mravljinčasta roka" or that we have ants "mravljince mam".
nobrains 9y ago
In Urdu they sleep as well. "Mera paoun so gaya hai". "My foot is sleeping" i.e. my foot has that intense tingling feeling.
neosat 9y ago
exactly the same expression in Hindi as well.
limaoscarjuliet 9y ago
Polish has ants or stiff hand or pins and needles sort of (ciarki).
userbinator 9y ago
The formal medical term is related to the "running ants" expression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication
hliyan 9y ago
In Sinhalese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language), there is a specific word for numbness and local anesthesia: "හිරිවැටීම". Literally translated as "falling into numbness".
innocentoldguy 9y ago
In Japanese, they go numb (痺れる). The kanji 痺 means numb, palsy, or paralyzed.
interfixus 9y ago
Is this true? I have never heard of any limb falling asleep. They may sleep, but the falling into sounds strange to my ears. My native Danish is possibly fooling my perception. My leg can sleep ('sove'), but no way it could falde i søvn (the exact same construct as fall asleep). The sleep part refers to the sensation of numbness. The tingling wake-up part seems to be associated with ants in large parts of the world. But not here. That would simply be tingling or prickling or some such thing.
- pubby 9y ago
  "Fall" has a few definitions but one of them is "pass into a specified state". So "fell asleep" means changing from being awake to sleeping. Apologies if you know this - I wasn't sure from your post.
  - interfixus 9y ago
    Yes, I know, and no, you're right, I didn't make that clear at all. My point was that exactly: The transitioning part sounds completely wrong to me. Where I come from, my leg can be sleeping or not, but it can't perform the state change from one to the other.
    - rendall 9y ago
      It's a funny phrase, because you'd most often say "My arm fell asleep." You might say "My arm is asleep." but never have I heard anyone say "My arm is sleeping."
- dfee 9y ago
  I am confused by your doubt. If English is not your native tongue, what instinct leads you to believe the statement is peculiar? Is it because English can mislead a non-native speaker? The answer is yes: having lived in 9 of the 50 US States in every cardinal (and sub) direction - as well as a stint in London - I’ve never encountered any confusion about this phrase. Limbs fall asleep. Or, a limb is asleep. But, if you’re sitting on your leg, and you know this to cut circulation, it would be unsurprising for you to say “it’s falling asleep” with the “degree” being the amount of paresthesia you expect to encounter when moving the limb.
justinram22 9y ago
In Chinese they go “ma2” (麻）which means “numb” or “tingly”. Interestingly the character is also used for their spicy hot pot (麻辣火鍋) which uses a spice called Sichuan peppercorn (花椒) which makes your mouth go numb like novocaine.
singularity2001 9y ago
that's interesting I talked to a New Zealander once and he didn't know what I mean until he finally said: "oh you mean pins and needles"
stratosgear 9y ago
In Greek it's "μούδιασε" (moó-thee-a-se) which is a completely standalone word, having the meaning of falling asleep, but not literally meaning that.
xbmcuser 9y ago
I am typing in Roman but for Urdu we have a word for it suun but also use sleep like in english
hessart 9y ago
As a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil (Sao Paulo), the use of “formigamento” sounds too formal to me. I have always used “dormiu”, which translates to “fell asleep” (past tense). However, using it in the present (either simple or continuous) would sound odd to my ears. That being said, Brazil has over 200 million speakers distributed across 3.2 million square miles, and the city of São Paulo accounts for only 5% of our total population (roughly).

32 points by curtis 9y ago

I didn't know "fall sleep" worked in English too. The phrase used in Persian [0] would translate to the same thing. [0] خواب رفتن, transliteration: "khab raftan"

red75prime 9y ago

In Russian they don't fall asleep by themselves, it is you who make them so. 'Я отлежал руку' - I made my arm fall asleep by lying on it.

p1esk 9y ago
"рука затекла"
- red75prime 9y ago
  Right, it seems to be more commonly used.
- iliaznk 9y ago
  My arm has gone numb.

pluma 9y ago

The German phrases (Ameisenlaufen, pelzige Haut) seem odd. As a native German I've never heard of them and there's a grammatical error in the second one (it's cited as "pelziges Haut", the grammatical gender of the adjective and noun don't match up: Haut is feminine but pelziges indicates neuter). He doesn't seem to be a native speaker so I'd take that claim with a grain of salt.

fullmoon 9y ago
Ameisenlaufen is used in Austria quite a bit. Never heard pelzige Haut.
- gsich 9y ago
  "einschlafen" or the dialect forms are common too.
btschaegg 9y ago
When it comes to Switzerland, I only ever witnessed the phrase using "einschlafen" (fall asleep) as well. I never heard of the other two. Also: I think I would still get the "ants" idiom (just based on the feeling itself), but the furry skin part really puzzles me.

oeuviz 9y ago

The pins and needles part is closest to what it't called in Serbo-Croatian, guess it's the modernized version of what is found in nature. In SH(BS/HR/SR) you'd say "trne mi ruka" which would translate to "my hand is thorning" as in using thorn as a verb.

Swizec 9y ago
In Slovenian we say that our hand is ant-y, "mravljinčasta roka" or that we have ants "mravljince mam".

nobrains 9y ago

In Urdu they sleep as well. "Mera paoun so gaya hai". "My foot is sleeping" i.e. my foot has that intense tingling feeling.

neosat 9y ago

exactly the same expression in Hindi as well.

limaoscarjuliet 9y ago

Polish has ants or stiff hand or pins and needles sort of (ciarki).

userbinator 9y ago

The formal medical term is related to the "running ants" expression: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Formication

hliyan 9y ago

In Sinhalese (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinhalese_language), there is a specific word for numbness and local anesthesia: "හිරිවැටීම". Literally translated as "falling into numbness".

innocentoldguy 9y ago

In Japanese, they go numb (痺れる). The kanji 痺 means numb, palsy, or paralyzed.

interfixus 9y ago

Is this true? I have never heard of any limb falling asleep. They may sleep, but the falling into sounds strange to my ears. My native Danish is possibly fooling my perception. My leg can sleep ('sove'), but no way it could falde i søvn (the exact same construct as fall asleep). The sleep part refers to the sensation of numbness. The tingling wake-up part seems to be associated with ants in large parts of the world. But not here. That would simply be tingling or prickling or some such thing.

pubby 9y ago
"Fall" has a few definitions but one of them is "pass into a specified state". So "fell asleep" means changing from being awake to sleeping. Apologies if you know this - I wasn't sure from your post.
- interfixus 9y ago
  Yes, I know, and no, you're right, I didn't make that clear at all. My point was that exactly: The transitioning part sounds completely wrong to me. Where I come from, my leg can be sleeping or not, but it can't perform the state change from one to the other.
  - rendall 9y ago
    It's a funny phrase, because you'd most often say "My arm fell asleep." You might say "My arm is asleep." but never have I heard anyone say "My arm is sleeping."
dfee 9y ago
I am confused by your doubt. If English is not your native tongue, what instinct leads you to believe the statement is peculiar? Is it because English can mislead a non-native speaker? The answer is yes: having lived in 9 of the 50 US States in every cardinal (and sub) direction - as well as a stint in London - I’ve never encountered any confusion about this phrase. Limbs fall asleep. Or, a limb is asleep. But, if you’re sitting on your leg, and you know this to cut circulation, it would be unsurprising for you to say “it’s falling asleep” with the “degree” being the amount of paresthesia you expect to encounter when moving the limb.

justinram22 9y ago

In Chinese they go “ma2” (麻）which means “numb” or “tingly”. Interestingly the character is also used for their spicy hot pot (麻辣火鍋) which uses a spice called Sichuan peppercorn (花椒) which makes your mouth go numb like novocaine.

singularity2001 9y ago

that's interesting I talked to a New Zealander once and he didn't know what I mean until he finally said: "oh you mean pins and needles"

stratosgear 9y ago

In Greek it's "μούδιασε" (moó-thee-a-se) which is a completely standalone word, having the meaning of falling asleep, but not literally meaning that.

xbmcuser 9y ago

I am typing in Roman but for Urdu we have a word for it suun but also use sleep like in english

hessart 9y ago

As a native Portuguese speaker from Brazil (Sao Paulo), the use of “formigamento” sounds too formal to me. I have always used “dormiu”, which translates to “fell asleep” (past tense). However, using it in the present (either simple or continuous) would sound odd to my ears. That being said, Brazil has over 200 million speakers distributed across 3.2 million square miles, and the city of São Paulo accounts for only 5% of our total population (roughly).