Words with Webster: Nap and Catnap, Plus Friendly Fill-Ins

We have two fun Friday features for you today. First up is Real Cat Webster, who has a sleepy word to share. After that, it’s on to Friendly Fill-Ins!

Words with Webster

Hi, everybody! It’s me, Real Cat Webster. Welcome to Words with Me. Today’s word is “nap.” I think we all know how important naps are to us cats. I certainly couldn’t get through the day without several of them. A nap, according to my favorite dictionary, Merriam-Webster’s, is “a short sleep especially during the day.”

I looked in the Oxford English Dictionary, which says that “nap” first appeared in print in the early 14th century. I found this quote from a while later; the original is thought to be from about 1450:

Þan I wakynd of my nappe. (The life of St. Cuthbert in English verse, ed. Joseph Thomas Fowler, 1891)

The Online Etymology Dictionary says that the word comes from the Old English word hnappian, which meant “to doze, sleep lightly.” It seems that no one is quite sure where that came from, but it could be related to the Old High German hnaffezan.

And let’s not forget about the closely related and very important word “catnap.” This word has been around since at least the early 19th century:

I just closed my eyes in order to think the better with myself... It was only some such matter as a cat's nap. (J. F. Cooper, Pioneers II. xiii. 187 [1823])

Obviously people just put “cat” and “nap” together—which, when you think about it, is one of the more sensible wordy things people have ever done!

  

Friendly Fill-Ins

And now it’s time for Friendly Fill-Ins, from 15andmeowing and McGuffy’s Reader. They are a fun way to learn a little bit about the authors of the blogs you read. The first two questions, answered by old SoLT this week, are from Ellen of 15andmeowing, and the next two, answered by Real Cat Paisley, are from Annie of McGuffy’s Reader.

Old SoLT’s answers:

1. My Chinese zodiac animal is the Monkey (Earth Monkey, specifically).

2. My zodiac sign is Capricorn.

Real Cat Paisley’s answers:

3. Income tax season … well, I don’t care about it because I don’t have any income except for treats and stuff. I don’t have to pay taxes on that, do I???

4. In hindsight, I probably should not have hissed (repeatedly) at Webster yesterday. Then again, he should’ve just left Mommy’s bedroom when I told him to the first time!