white night = a night without sleep

[vil]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

The almost entirely white night she had just passed.

white night = a night without sleep

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

[2006]

Dear teachers,

Would you be kind enough to tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expression in bold in the following sentence?

The almost entirely white night she had just passed. That's not a sentence. Did you copy it right?

white night = a night without sleep

Thank you for your efforts.

Regards,

V.

2006

[bertietheblue]

Correct. I think it comes from the French expression "passer la nuit blanche", although in most cases we would simply say a 'sleepless night'. 'White nights' also refers to nights without darkness in eg Alaska and northern Scandinavia (as seen in the film 'Insomnia'), at certain times of the year.

[emsr2d2]

As 2006 said, it's not sentence in its own right, but I'm assuming that the quote was only part of a sentence and actually continued.

I would say "white night" means "a night without sleep", yes. In Spain, and a lot of other continental European countries, once a year they have "La Noche en Blanco" which is a night where there is street theatre and live music in the streets until about 7am the next day. The bars, restaurants, even some of the museums etc stay open all night and the idea is that everyone stays up all night and parties, consequently getting no sleep.

[bertietheblue]

Yeah, a 'white night' often means a sleepless night of fun and not simply a sleepless night, but I think it's used more in other countries in their language. For example, when the French say 'passer la nuit blanche' they mean they were out all night partying. Russians though say "belaya noch'" eg in Saint Petersburg to mean a night without dark. In England we would say, more prosaically, 'I was out all night partying'. I have never ever heard anyone say 'white night' back home.

[emsr2d2]

Apparently, Leeds had a "Light Night" once!

You can read about the entire idea here: Nuit Blanche - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[vil]

Hi 2006,

For all I know the inauspicious sentence is a component ofthe world-famous Oxford English Dictionary but most very likely it is of no consequence for your supersensitiveness and proverbial self-confidence. If I were you I would go about in much the same manner as the rest teachers above.

The almost entirely white night she had just passed.

Did she have a white night?

She had an entirely white night.

The nightmarish white night in question above just passed.

Regards,

V.