What is the literal meaning of the "sleeper curve"?
jsl...@hanyang.ac.kr
book, he used the term the "sleeper curve" borrowing for Woody Allen's
movie "Sleeper."
I can understand what he means the "Sleeper curve." But I can't
understand what does the literal meaning of the "Sleeper Curve." Does
the "sleeper" means "something unexpected" ?
Please help.
Don Phillipson
news:1172157581.5...@v33g2000cwv.googlegroups.com...
There are two meanings here.
No. 1 is something unexpected. This is used to
describe espionage agents instructed to do nothing
illegal or suspicious until mobilized by headquarters.
I.e. they "sleep" until ordered to act. Any event may
encounter an unforeseen sleeper (e.g. travel breakdowns
en route to a wedding.)
No. 2 (as in the Woody Allen film) is literally a
protagonist who sleeps from one historical time
period until another, cf. also "When the Sleeper Wakes"
(H.G. Wells), Rip Van Winkle (Washington Irving) etc.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
tinwhistler
[snip]
But I can't
> understand what does the literal meaning of the "Sleeper Curve."
For me, the "Sleeper Curve" is rather like the "Fetal Postion." On
Amtrak, it's the lurch that inevitably occurs just as one is about to
reach their berth when returning from a decent interval in the bar
car.
Aloha ~~~ Ozzie Maland ~~~ San Diego
Donna Richoux
It would help if we knew something about what Johnson's "Sleeper curve"
was supposed to be, or to measure.
There's a scene in "Sleeper" where the doctors of the future talk about
how those in the past (us) didn't know the the wonderful health benefits
of hot fudge sundaes and deep-fried foods. That would fit Johnson's
title perfectly. If this is the case, "Sleeper curve" would mean a curve
based on this idea from the movie "Sleeper."
Another, more common meaning of the term: Cassell's Dictionary of Slang
says that "sleeper" has meant "any product that gains acceptance and
success only slowly" since the late 19th century. A movie, for example,
that was out for quite a while before it started attracting a lot of
attention would be a "sleeper".
--
Best -- Donna Richoux
jsl...@hanyang.ac.kr
wrote:
> <jsle...@hanyang.ac.kr> wrote in message
Thanks!
Jongsoo Lee
Seoul, Korea