Forty Winks

Etymology:

• Since the 14th century, "wink" has referred to sleep, but probably just a short period of sleep because when you wink you close and open your eyelids quickly. In the Bible and the works of William Shakespeare, the number forty didn't always mean the number after thirty-nine. It meant an indefinite number or "few." The phrase "forty winks" was first used in 1872 in an issue of the famous British humor magazine Punch.