this post was submitted on 17 Jul 2025
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Showerthoughts

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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.

Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:

Rules

  1. All posts must be showerthoughts
  2. The entire showerthought must be in the title
  3. No politics
    • If your topic is in a grey area, please phrase it to emphasize the fascinating aspects, not the dramatic aspects. You can do this by avoiding overly politicized terms such as "capitalism" and "communism". If you must make comparisons, you can say something is different without saying something is better/worse.
    • A good place for politics is c/politicaldiscussion
  4. Posts must be original/unique
  5. Adhere to Lemmy's Code of Conduct and the TOS

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[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 2 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago) (1 children)

One night my daughter asked me, "Where is dreamland?" I explained that it's a made-up place you think of while you're asleep, and how everyone has their own. Little kids take things so literally, when we talked about "going to dreamland" at bedtime she probably wondered if it was an actual place she went somehow - but where could it be? Great question.

[–] FreshParsnip@lemmy.ca 1 points 2 days ago

I think I believed that for a time when I was a kid, that dreamland was a physical place people went to when sleeping

[–] Schwim@lemmy.zip 15 points 6 days ago (2 children)

"It's time to achieve unconsciousness, kiddo."

[–] Agent641@lemmy.world 4 points 6 days ago

The void calls ceaselessly, child.

[–] leadore@lemmy.world 10 points 6 days ago

The word "go" has lots of meanings besides physically moving to a place. It also means to change state ("the milk went bad", "he'll go crazy when he finds out") and to indicate immediate future tense ("I'm going to read this book now"). Not to mention some other less relevant uses.

[–] hedge_lord@lemmy.world 7 points 6 days ago

Yeah I think it's going to make me go insane

[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 94 points 1 week ago (9 children)

We "go" to lots of things that aren't places. Im going to prove it with this sentence.

[–] LovableSidekick@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago

Let's not go off the rails.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (2 children)

Different usage. You wouldn't tell someone "Go to prove." Are there any examples of "Go to [word]." where the [word] is not a physical place?

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Yes. We regularly say "go to [verb]".

Go to eat
Go to learn
Go to exercise

Saying "go to sleep" is exectly the same.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Not exactly. Compare being told "Go to sleep!" with "Go to eat!" "Go to learn!" "Go to exercise!" It makes sense grammatically, but nobody says it like that. They sound like something a non-native speaker would say.

[–] OutlierBlue@lemmy.ca 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

It is grammatically correct to use them. It's the same rule. We're just used to using/hearing one but not the others.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

Yes, I said it was grammatically correct. However, one phrase is actually used by native speakers of the language, the others are not. So there is a difference.

[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) (1 children)

Not many.. Heres what i came up with though:
Go to great lengths
Go to extremes
Go to bat for something
Go to town on something

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Still different usages because they require more words to make sense. "Go to sleep" is a weird figure of speech.

[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

Now you're moving the goalposts :p

I agree it is a rare structure.

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago (1 children)

No, I'm not. Notice the period. That was very deliberate.

Are there any examples of “Go to [word].”

[–] Stillwater@sh.itjust.works 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

I edited my original post, but what about "go to extremes" ?

[–] samus12345@sh.itjust.works 1 points 6 days ago

That one's better!

[–] whimsy@lemmy.zip 39 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Can you do it after we go to lunch?

[–] expatriado@lemmy.world 16 points 1 week ago (1 children)
[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 15 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I think I'm going to vomit.

[–] Goun@lemmy.ml 10 points 1 week ago (1 children)
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[–] deegeese@sopuli.xyz 18 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In English, ‘go to’ can be used as the future subjunctive tense of the verb being conjugated.

[–] hoshikarakitaridia@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago

Sounds fancy. I hope it's not expensive to use.

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[–] Fiivemacs@lemmy.ca 23 points 1 week ago (3 children)

you don't go places when you sleep?

[–] Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

As a stress sleepwalker, yes I do.

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[–] Zachariah@lemmy.world 22 points 1 week ago
[–] EndlessNightmare@reddthat.com 19 points 1 week ago (4 children)

In Spanish, they talk about hunger and thirst as if they are physical objects.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 1 points 6 days ago

Feelings are things we have.

[–] teft@piefed.world 11 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago) (9 children)

I think that's more that tener (to have) doesn't always mean a physical thing.

As an example in spanish they use tener for age. As in tengo 20 años literally is "I have 20 years" but it means "I am 20"

Or ten cuidado means "take care" or "be careful" but literally is more like "have care". Both phrases use tener in a nonphysical sense in the same way as in english we use "to have". Like to have compassion or to have doubts.

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[–] Deconceptualist@leminal.space 10 points 1 week ago (2 children)

German too. Ich habe Hunger. Sie haben Durst.

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago (1 children)

You can have feelings too.

[–] Deconceptualist@leminal.space 1 points 6 days ago

Aw, thanks! I feel like you're a lovely person.

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[–] Nemoder@lemmy.ml 14 points 1 week ago

If you have trouble going to sleep then try falling asleep instead.

[–] moonburster@lemmy.world 14 points 1 week ago (1 children)

In Dutch “go” means to go do a thing as well and I use it English in a similar fashion. Never thought of it weird before

[–] MyTurtleSwimsUpsideDown@fedia.io 4 points 1 week ago (2 children)

Edit-preface: I am not a grammarian. I don’t know what the technical names for the different types of “to” are or if they are even recognized as distinct by experts in the field.

English is does indeed use “go” to mean “go do a thing”, but not with directional “to” (as in “go to the library”).

“Go run!”, “Go running”, “I’m going running”, and “I’m going to run” are all valid uses. (In that last case, the “to” is not a directional “to”, but is actually part of the infinitive verb “to run”, as in “I want to run”). However, you wouldn’t say “Go to run!” to tell someone to run.

"Go to run" could make sense with a causal “to” (“Go, in order that you might run”) but that separates “go” and “run” in to separate actions. Causal “to” is the “to” in “push to open” and “press F to pay respects” this is not the “to” in “go to sleep”

“Go to sleep” feels like it is in the directional sense, like "go to bed"

Edit: Now you’ve got me thinking. “Go to sleep” and “go to bed” are a little unusual . “Go to [location]“ without an article is usually reserved for proper nouns or pronouns (“Go to France”, “go to Curicó”, “go to Walmart”, “go to John“ “go to her”). When the location is a general noun, you usually use an article or a proper/pro-noun in the possessive form (“go to a restaurant”, “go to the party”, “go to Bob’s house”, “go to your room”). So what makes “bed” and “sleep” so special? The only other case I can think of at the moment is “go to ground” and that is different because it is an idiom, and the rule for idioms is “they mean what they mean”

Edit-edit: meals don’t use an article either: “to lunch”, “to dinner”, “to breakfast”.

Edit-edit-edit: AAAAAH! It applies to some other prepositions too: “in bed”, “at lunch”; but not “under the bed”. What is going on‽

Edit-edit-edit-edit: Causal “to” might be a use of the infinitive case?

Edit-edit-edit-edit-edit: “go to work” does not use an article either.

[–] teft@piefed.world 2 points 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago)

I think it's because the "to" in those phrases are part of "to sleep" not part of "go to". The "to" modifies the verb "sleep" to be an infinitive and the "go" is an imperative verb.

[–] moonburster@lemmy.world 2 points 6 days ago

Damn that’s a good write up!

Another thing we say often in Dutch is I go to bed. Which works in English too! “Ik ga naar bed”

[–] apfelwoiSchoppen@lemmy.world 13 points 1 week ago (3 children)
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[–] WhatGodIsMadeOf@feddit.org 12 points 1 week ago

I wish it was. I wish it was...

[–] roofuskit@lemmy.world 11 points 1 week ago

I'm going to go, to my bed, to sleep.

[–] RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world 9 points 1 week ago

It's a state.

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