To go to bed or go to sleep. A casual expression meaning to retire for the night.
This phrase originated in the early 20th century American frontier, when many people literally slept on mattresses stuffed with hay or straw. 'Hitting the hay' meant physically lying down on these rustic beds. The expression stuck even as mattresses evolved beyond agricultural stuffing.
The phrase preserves a vanished way of life when hay-stuffed mattresses were common, and 'hitting' the hay described the satisfying thump of a tired body collapsing onto a firm, rustling bed. It's remarkable how this agricultural relic remains popular in our age of memory foam and adjustable beds, showing our nostalgia for simpler times.
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