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Reader question: Please explain the phrase “safe and sound”, as in this headline: Missing student returns home safe and sound. Safe, yes, but sound? My comments: Sound, what sound? I see you point. Years ago, someone asked me a similar question and that is, why sound asleep? Off the cuff I replied the “sound” refers to the noise one makes while fast asleep. The snorting sound, for instance. And worse, the sound one makes in slumber chewing on one’s teeth. I was kidding, of course. Same with fast asleep. How has “fast” or “slow” got to do with it when you’re deep in sleep? That is right, deep in sleep. Both “sound” and “fast” suggest the same thing – the thoroughness that’s in there – that someone is DEEP in sleep, completely asleep. Sound as adverb is used in many situations suggesting this thoroughness, a wholesome quality. Sound health, for instance, suggests that someone is completely hale and healthy, with a sound heart and mind free of any injury. Similarly, we talk of a sound investment in a sound business, and that suggests we’ve done a thorough investigation into the whole thing and it turns out completely viable to make this particular investment. Or we talk of someone with sound moral values. That points to the fact that this person has integrity, someone who is, again, wholesome in character. | 
