To hit the hay means to get into bed and go to sleep immediately.
Common variations include hit the sack and hit the bed, which are used interchangeably. However, saying you are going to “hit the hay” carries a slightly different intention than simply saying you are going to “go to bed.” While you can go to bed to read, watch TV, or relax, hitting the hay implies an immediate intention to sleep, usually because you are exhausted or facing an early morning.
Origin of ‘Hit the Hay’
The idiom hit the hay has been in common American usage since at least the early 1900s. Both hay and sack refer to the construction of simple beds from the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Before modern mattresses became widespread, mattresses were often literal canvas or burlap sacks stuffed with straw, hay, or corn husks. Thus, flopping down exhausted onto a bed was literally “hitting the hay-filled sack.” The phrase also evokes sleeping on a raw stack of hay in a farm loft or barn after a long day of hard physical labor.
Why Do We Use the Word ‘Hit’ for Bed, Books, and Bottles?
Ever wonder why English speakers use the verb hit for phrases like hit the hay, hit the books, or hit the road? None of these involve striking anything with physical force.
In American slang and informal idiom, hit has long been used to mean to begin using, consuming, engaging with, or setting out upon something. Instead of a passive action, using “hit” adds a sense of immediate action, purpose, or intensity.
This idiomatic sense of “hit” generally falls into three main categories:
- Targeting a Location or Action: Setting out on a journey or placing yourself in a location (e.g., hit the road, hit the hay, hit the gym, hit the beach).
- Indulgence or Consumption: Beginning to consume or indulge in a substance (e.g., hit the bottle, hit the sauce, or the archaic hit the pipe).
- Applying Effort or Action: Directing immediate focus or physical effort toward a task (e.g., hit the books, hit the brakes, hit the gas).
Sentence Examples
- “I’ve got an early morning tomorrow, so I’d better hit the hay.”
- “I was so exhausted after driving all day that I hit the sack by 8 PM.”
- “Time to hit the bed, we have a long hike ahead of us tomorrow.”
- “As soon as we checked into the hotel, I hit the bed and didn’t wake up until morning.”
Similar and Related Idioms
Idioms Using “Hit” for Sleep or Rest:
- Hit the Sack: An exact synonym for hit the hay, referencing the burlap sack mattress.
- Hit the Bed: A modern, direct variation meaning to go straight to sleep.
- Hit the Pillow: To lay one’s head down with the immediate intention of falling asleep.
- Hit the Deck: Literally to fall flat on the ground (often for cover), but colloquially used to mean falling asleep out of extreme exhaustion.
Other Slang Uses of “Hit”:
- Hit the Road: To depart or begin a journey.
- Hit the Books: To begin studying intensively.
- Hit the Bottle: To drink alcohol heavily or compulsively.
- Hit the Panic Button: To react with sudden panic or alarm.
General Sleep Idioms:
- Turn In: To go to bed for the night.
- Call It a Night: To end one’s activities for the evening and prepare for sleep.
- Catch Some Z’s: Informal slang for getting some sleep.
- Crash / Pass Out: To fall asleep rapidly due to intense physical exhaustion.