National ArchiveBlack’s Dictionary
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Entry · catalog no. 1067

collar a nod

/ /
phrase · Harlem, New York ·
Verified
1.
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.
Region of origin
West
Midwest
N.East
South
Nationwide / diaspora
Harlem, New York ·
Spoken by
$COLLARThe Record · cultural traction
26 yrs
ahead of the mainstream
60/100
peak cultural energy
Introduced to English by the culture — logged here before the mainstream caught on.
Cultural usage — the recordMainstream search interest
Cultural energy indexed from documented usage, search interest, and citation frequency. The recorded date is the archive’s permanent point of record.
Hear it spoken
By region — how it actually sounds
@auntiereg
Atlanta, GA
@deltasoul
Memphis, TN
Contribute your pronunciation
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
+ Cite a source
See also