whatever helps you sleep at night
- idiom
- Informal
:
lo que te ayude a dormir por la noche
- Well, whatever helps you sleep at night!
Examples
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You can believe your excuses, but whatever helps you sleep at night.
-
You can justify your actions however you wish; it’s whatever helps you sleep at night.
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He claims it was for the best, but whatever helps you sleep at night.
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If lying makes you feel better, then whatever helps you sleep at night.
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If you think lying is okay, then whatever helps you sleep at night.
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If you need to lie to feel better, then whatever helps you sleep at night.
-
She said she did it for her peace of mind, but it's whatever helps you sleep at night.
How Reassured
64
3.0
- Informal
Surface Forms
Morphology
whatever + help + you + sleep + at + night
The literal composition ('whatever' + 'helps you sleep at night') yields an obvious meaning ('anything that allows you to sleep'), so a learner who knows the words can recover a basic sense. However, the typical use is a dismissive/pragmatic stance meaning 'do what makes you feel better' or 'I don't accept your justification,' which relies on conversational implicature and tone and is not fully predictable from the constituent meanings alone.
Etymology
Whatever helps you sleep at night comes from the image of someone lying in bed, worried, who uses a small excuse or comfort to quiet their mind so they can sleep. So people say it to mean 'do what makes you feel better', but often to show doubt.