# Fast Asleep **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 21, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206 "2005-10-21T03:27:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Strinka](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/strinka/32/512_2.png) [@Strinka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strinka)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/1 "2005-10-21T03:27:38Z")
Why do we say “fast” asleep? Can you be slow asleep? ---
**Author:** ![Si\_Amigo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/si_amigo/32/2877_2.png) [@Si\_Amigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Si_Amigo)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/2 "2005-10-21T03:35:25Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Why do we say “fast” asleep? Can you be slow asleep? Most definitly. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/3 "2005-10-21T03:39:17Z")
From the Straight Dope Mailbag: [Where did we come up with the expression “fast asleep”?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mfastasleep.html) > [@SDSTAFF Ian](#): > > “fast” as a descriptive word initially (as early as the 9th century) meant “steady” or “in place.” We still see this in today’s vernacular in the word “steadfast,” and in bleach or fabrics described as “colorfast,” meaning colors stay in place, as well as the most common use, “fast asleep.”… ---
**Author:** ![Foaming\_Cleanser](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Foaming\_Cleanser](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Foaming_Cleanser)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/4 "2005-10-21T03:39:52Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Why do we say “fast” asleep? Can you be slow asleep? Because the opposite of fast is fast. From [dictionary.com](http://dictionary.com): > [@](#): > > Fixed firmly in place; secure: shutters that are fast against the rain. ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 21, 2005, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/5 "2005-10-21T11:20:02Z")
Noses run and feet smell. Goods sent by water are a car-go. Goods sent by land are a ship-ment. ---
**Author:** ![ryobserver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b2d939/32.png) [@ryobserver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ryobserver)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/6 "2005-10-22T01:19:35Z")
> [@Strinka](#): > > Why do we say “fast” asleep? Can you be slow asleep? I gather you’ve never had to learn to march in formation. If you found “fast asleep” puzzling you’d really be baffled by “stand fast”. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/7 "2005-10-22T02:13:41Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > Noses run and feet smell. > > Goods sent by water are a car-go. Goods sent by land are a ship-ment. And we drive on a parkway and park on a driveway. But so what? :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/8 "2005-10-22T02:38:22Z")
When you eat in a restaraunt In England, you are given a bill and you pay with a cheque. In America you are given a check and you pay with a bill. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/9 "2005-10-22T03:21:17Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > When you eat in a restaraunt In England, you are given a bill and you pay with a cheque. In America you are given a check and you pay with a bill. Actually, I am generally brought a tab and pay with a card (unless my wife drinks the Tab, although that is rarer since the advent of Diet Coke). ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 8:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/10 "2005-10-22T08:05:51Z")
> [@Peter Morris](#): > > When you eat in a restaraunt In England, you are given a bill and you pay with a cheque. In America you are given a check and you pay with a bill. (the obligatory Yakov Smirnov post) In England you eat in restaurant. In Russia restaurant eats you! ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/11 "2005-10-22T17:59:58Z")
“Hold fast” means “stay where you are.” In old timey sailors’ jargon, it got compressed a bit. When a movie pirate says, “Avast, ye swab!” he means, “Hold it right there, you low-ranking mopper-of-decks.” ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [October 22, 2005, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fast-asleep/327206/12 "2005-10-22T18:46:56Z")
> [@AskNott](#): > > “Hold fast” means “stay where you are.” A holdfast is the root-like structure that keeps kelp in place. 😉