It may seem counterintuitive to identify a letter with sleep, but how else could we express it?
So let’s look at how the expression “Zzz” has been equated with sleep and snoring for as long as we can remember.
In fact, there are more than one theory about the origin of this situation.
First in 1837, Henry David Thoreau referred to the faint buzzing of insects in an article, and over the years, this buzzing has come to be equated with the sound of snoring.
Also, long ago in comics, there was a need for something to express sleep and snoring, and artists sought ways to show that a character was asleep. There were not many ways to represent sleep and snoring, and “Onomatopoeia” was invoked.
This concept; In connection with what was called, it was the formation of a word from a sound, and a class of words that were created to imitate any sound. At the same time, the phrase “Zzz” was also described as an expression of the comic book artists’ inability to sleep much.
So, since there was no real way to express sleep, a sound word (Onomatopoeia) was taken instead.
This term; in fact, it represents reflective sounds such as boom, bang, clang, buzz, zipp, which are spelled out as they sound. Since it is very difficult to represent the sounds made while sleeping with letters, it was thought that the letter “Z” best expresses this situation.
Even the use of capital or small forms of these letters can evoke different meanings from time to time. For example, “ZZZ” has often evolved to mean loud snoring by someone big and old. The combination of lowercase letters and the letters “z” also suggests a calmer and quieter form of snoring.
Also, imagine that a saw cuts a tree stump with back-and-forth and zigzag movements. Doesn’t this situation remind you of the letter “Z”, just like the sound made during snoring? In addition, “Z” can connote the last letter of the alphabet and usually sleep, the end of the day. These tips can actually lead us to the answer to the question.
Although the expression “zzz” has been adopted worldwide, the way each culture expresses it may differ from time to time.
For example, Germans use the phrase “chrrr” for sleep and snoring, given the typical German pronunciation of “ch” and “r”. The French, who prefer a rich “r” in terms of sound, have adopted the sounds of “rrr”, “roon”, “ron”.
The Spanish use “rooooon”, the Japanese “guu guu”, some Chinese use “hu lu”, and the Finns “kroohpyyh” for sleep and snoring.
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