For representative purposes.
| Photo Credit: iStockphoto
“There you are! Where were you? I’ve been looking all over for you.”
“Ended up with a bad headache after this morning’s presentations. They were awful.”
“I know! One of the experts had a lot of things to say about them.”
“No need to be diplomatic. The expert took great delight in trashing the presentations.”
“Trashing the presentations? Do you mean to say that he thought the presentations were nothing more than garbage?”
“The word trash has several different meanings. One of them, of course, is garbage. But in informal contexts, ‘trash’ can also be used to mean to criticise someone or something very harshly.”
“I see. How does this sound? After the match, the coach trashed Rahul in front of everyone for having dropped three catches.”
“Sounds good. Even ideas can be trashed. Jyothi’s proposal was trashed by all members of the committee.”
“Poor Jyothi always gets trashed — no matter what she does or says! But tell me, where did you go after the presentations? I didn’t see you at lunch!”
“I needed to be away from everyone and everything. Went to my room for a catnap.”
“Catnap? Does it mean a short nap?”
“Very good! The cat that we’re thinking of is the house cat. Not lions or…”
“Can’t be the king of the jungle. He sleeps nearly 16 hours a day!”
“Really? I didn’t know that! House cats, on the other hand, take several short naps throughout the day. When you take a catnap, you sleep for a short while. Anywhere between 10 and 20 minutes. Not more than that.”
“So, it’s not deep sleep?”
“It’s not, but you wake up feeling refreshed. Catnaps are usually taken during the daytime, and they can be taken anywhere — in the chair, on the sofa, while sitting in a car…”
“I think I understand. I read somewhere that Napoleon had the ability to take a catnap while riding a horse.”
“Really? That’s hard to believe! I usually take a catnap when my mother is on the phone with her friend. Catnap can also be used as a verb. For example, my father could catnap whenever he wanted to.”
“Lucky man! I usually catnap when my friend drives me to the office. Tell me, what’s the difference catnap and beauty sleep? Sujatha always talks about needing her beauty sleep.”
“In the case of Sujatha and me, no amount of sleep will help. We’re destined…”
“That’s a mean thing to say! Anyway, what is beauty sleep?”
“Unlike a catnap, your beauty sleep is something that you have in the night. It’s not something that you have in the day time. You go to bed before midnight.”
“I see. And how long does one sleep? More than an hour?”
“It depends on the individual. Dictionaries define beauty sleep as something you need ‘in order to feel and look healthy and attractive’. So, the duration may vary. You may require 10 hours, while I may require just six.”
“I see. How about this example? I’ll be late for work tomorrow. I need to catch up on my beauty sleep.”
“Sounds good. Here’s another. Let her sleep. If she doesn’t get her beauty sleep, she’ll make everyone’s life miserable tomorrow.”
“In that case, let the beauty sleep!”
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Published – August 04, 2025 08:30 am IST
