# So what is shortsheeting a bed anyway? And why is it hilarious?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious/1029279>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [April 14, 2026, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious/1029279 "2026-04-14T21:14:37Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 4

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**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\
**Post date:** [April 19, 2026, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious/1029279/61 "2026-04-19T02:33:24Z")

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> [@Spiderman](#):
>
> but above you stated that
> 
> > [@thorny\_locust](#):
> >
> > You weren’t **generally** going to unmake the whole bed in order to get into it.
> 
> & I was saying that ~~generally~~ , I _always_ do that in a hotel, & I’m not the only one. What you may or may not do does not necessarily mean the entire population generally does that.

That sentence you quoted went with the one before it:

> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> When I was a child, we were taught to tuck the sides in when making the bed. You weren’t generally going to unmake the whole bed in order to get into it.

and the “you” referred to those children who were taught, when I was a child in the 1950’s, to tuck the sides in (and who were probably also the people doing the shortsheeting and having it done to them.) It wasn’t meant to refer either to you in particular or to the entire population of the planet. Sorry if that was confusing.

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**Author:** ![Melbourne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5e925/32.png) [@Melbourne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Melbourne)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious/1029279/62 "2026-04-20T00:45:24Z")

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> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> You weren’t generally going to unmake the whole bed in order to get into it.

I’m tall, and for ~10 years I slept curled up. If I was tired, and got into a short sheeted bed again, like I had at age 9, I’d probably just curl up and go to sleep.

But **normally** when I get into a bed tucked at the bottom, I kick it free. Nowhere to put my size-13 feet in a bed tucked at the bottom, I just don’t fit.

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**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\
**Post date:** [April 20, 2026, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-what-is-shortsheeting-a-bed-anyway-and-why-is-it-hilarious/1029279/63 "2026-04-20T02:43:00Z")

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> [@thorny\_locust](#):
>
> I lift them partly from the side, at the top, but not all the way down the bed.
> 
> When I was a child, we were taught to tuck the sides in when making the bed. You weren’t generally going to unmake the whole bed in order to get into it.

I gotta say, i was taught that, but as an adult, i don’t see the point, and mostly leave my bed untucked.

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