I learnt of this phrase this evening while watching the new BBC series, fronted by Victoria Wood, on the history of the British Empire.

Apart from those who saw the programme, can anyone guess what a sleeping dictionary was in the days of the Raj?

can anyone guess what a sleeping dictionary was in the days of the Raj?

It's still the best way to learn a language or culture.

A dictionary that doesn't evolve with the times? Just a guess.

I suspect that Zm has the answer. So far as Kalleh's guess is concerned - well, there is an element of truth since the system has remained essentially unchanged for a long time.

I think I have the answer too. If it's what I think it is I learned it from a Flashman book where the anti-hero has a certain facility for language aided by use of sleeping dictionaries.

I could be thinking along the wrong lines though.

Is it recorded language lessons that you play while you are asleep so that your brain absorbs the new language unconsciously?

WM

I've not heard it before, but I think zmj's correct. I suspect the "sleeping" part is the euphemism that RE has remarked on in the past.

Oh, I'd definitely choose z's answer over mine any day...no matter what the discussion or what the subject.

I'll give it one more day - but there must be some significance in the fact the it is primarily the Brits that seem to have inferred the "naughty" interpretation.

quote:

Originally posted by Richard English:
I'll give it one more day - but there must be some significance in the fact the it is primarily the Brits that seem to have inferred the "naughty" interpretation.

Yes, but they are being so oblique about it that I am entirely lost. So it must mean "sleeping" with somebody that speaks that language. Well, you would learn a specific vocabulary that way, wouldn't you?

Wordmatic

Well, you would learn a specific vocabulary that way, wouldn't you?

Though, my sample size is small, i.e., two or three individuals, I have know some people to learn a language rather well using the sleeping dictionary methodology for applied linguistics. It's technically known as the immersion method and is one of the best. After the "sleeping" is finished with there's usually lots to talk about that involves advanced syntax and vocabulary.

I've been dilatory in dealing with this. This is the answer.

During the days of the Indian Raj, most of the British officials were men and there was thus a great shortage of women.

Many men took Indian mistresses who, apart from their more obvious comforts, would obviously teach their lovers at least a few words during their otherwise physical encounters. Thus they were often given the euphemistic name "sleeping dictionaries".

Ah - so the sleeping dictionary is actually a person . . . particularly one who engages in pillow talk?