Entry · catalog no. 1067

collar a nod

/ /ˈkɑː.lɚ ə nɑːd/ /KAH-lur uh NOD

phrase · Harlem, New York · 1940s

✓ Verified

To get some sleep.

“I'ma collar a nod before the second set.”

Origin & Attribution

Hurston's 1942 Harlem glossary gives it as "sleep." Calloway's dictionary carries both halves — collar, "to get, to obtain," and nod, "sleep," as in "I think I'll cop a nod." Musician's speech, built for a life lived on night hours.

1938

Root terms in Calloway's Hepster's Dictionary

1942

Full phrase in Hurston's Harlem glossary

Region of origin

West

Midwest

N.East

South

Nationwide

Harlem, New York · 1940s

Spoken by

Harlem musicians

$COLLARThe Record · cultural traction

▲ Dormant

84 yrs

ahead of the mainstream

18/100

peak cultural energy

Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.

Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest

First used

1942

in the culture

Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.

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Citations & Sources

■

Zora Neale Hurston, "Story in Harlem Slang," The American Mercury — short story with glossary · 1942

submitted

■

Cab Calloway, Hepster's Dictionary — dictionary · 1938

submitted

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