Lewis, I KNOW I'm going to regret this

Which is preferred?
She was fast asleep!
or
She was sound asleep!
We have divided opinions here and would appreciate any and all input.

I hadn't thought of this before but I think, "fast asleep" is that she's fully asleep.

"Sound asleep" implies she's in a deep sleep.

The difference if there is any is very slight so I'd think either way of saying it would do.

I haven't given it any thought until now either. I am not sure, but I think I probably use them very much interchangeably - no doubt I will now be shown to be unspeakably sloppy!

'fast' is used in the sense of 'tightly' or 'resolutely' (think 'fastened') - and 'sound' is being used in the sense of 'solid' or 'reliable' - there is not a fag-paper of difference between the usages when applied to sleep (IMO).
both are entirely acceptable meaning completely asleep.
I like 'comatose' myself.

zzzzzz.

What is the meaning and origin of that? It sounds derogatory.

Fag is Brit slang for cigarette... therefore "fagpaper" = "roll your own" cigarette paper - think Rizlas here. "Not a fagpaper of difference" = hardly any difference, since fagpaper is so thin.

Yes it's funny how terms evolve and change meaning completely. When I was young, fags were always cigarettes, but now I doubt anyone would dare to call them fags, given the term is now used in a derogative way to describe gay men. Another word that has made that transition in my memory is 'hooker'. When I was young 'hooker' was a rugby term and nothing else, but with American TV, that can be interpreted to mean a prostitute. Although it's still a Rugby term and hooker isn't really a word we use much here in reference to women on the game.

We have a large real estate chain here called L.J. Hooker Pty Ltd. Because they're real estate and big, they have big advertising signs all around. I remember an American friend who was visiting thought it was very amusing - and I had no idea why at the time.

'Fag' is very much still in current use to mean cigarette, at least in my experience, despite the American meaning.

DFG

Fags - from "faggot" - a bundle of sticks to use as firewood. a "faggot" is also a name for English meatballs - I'm not sure how that translated into "fags" meaning junior boys abused as servants by older boys at public school - perhaps as quasi-servants they had to fetch the faggots to tend the fire. I think the term of abuse "faggot" may have that source. in the Midlands, faggots are still popular as something to eat. at a football match (Burton-Upon-Trent) a friend had a faggot and chips with gravy served from the pitch-side fast-food outlet - it was a double-entendre that he'd "had a faggot" before the match...and publicly in front of his wife.

It may be peurile of me, but wouldn't it have been even funnier if the firm had been "B.J. Hooker" ?

I don't know how parents can give their children the initials BJ any more than they can use VD with a straight face.

"A boy named Sue" should be a girl named "BJ" - yet Billie-Jo Spears doesn't seem to have suffered for it.

L

Check out the link below for my first encounter with a hooker.
www.galwayonline.ie/history/history2/hookers.htm

bobbing about.

Oh dear, I was just about to say, ummm, Lewis I don't understand the BJ reference - and as I typed it - thud - it hit me. And here's me aspiring to a convertible - shame on me.... I'll just trundle off quietly back into my little hole. bye... (sheepish grin)