Rise and shine, people! It’s a beautiful morning. There are several ways to greet people when you wake up in the morning. Not everybody cares but it’s culture for some people.
‘Rise and shine’ is a popular phrase used to wake people up in the morning. It is the sort of thing you would say before pulling your lazy friend off the bed. It combines a call to wake up with a good wish for a bright morning.
A similar phrase is ‘Good morning’ which is less strange to everyone. Another similar phrase is ‘Top of the morning’.
This article puts together a list of 20 sayings that can perfectly replace ‘Rise and shine’ in your beautiful mornings.
How To Say Rise and Shine
- Come say Hi to the day.
- Shake a leg.
- Come to life.
- Fall off the bed.
- Wakey, wakey- eggs and bacon (or bakey)
- Fire, fire!
- Top of the morning to you.
- Hear ye! Hear ye! Sleepyhead!
- Rise and grind.
- Early bird gets the worm
- Get up and bounce.
- Look alive.
- Wake up, lazy bone.
- Coffee time.
- Quit snoring. (Quit dreaming)
- No time for closed eyes.
- Up, up, and away.
- Wake the fork up.
- Time up.
- Brighten up.
Come say Hi to the day
This is a calm ‘Good morning’ statement. It’s something you can say to someone who is already up… maybe not up as in standing but up as in awake.
It is common for us to stay a while in bed after waking up. Some people take much longer in bed and they do literally nothing.
For some people, they are probably busy with their phones or with something that is actually taking their time.
I used to be the kind of person who would wake up and just stare at the ceiling for about 5 minutes. I don’t do that anymore, however.
I have a phone so that justifies my stay in bed for an even longer time. I can remain in bed for close to an hour after waking up. You are allowed to use this statement for me.
Till you step out under the sun and look at the sky, you haven’t said ‘Hi’ to the day. That’s disrespectful if you ask me.
Shake a leg
This unpopular idiom sounds like another popular idiom; ‘Break a leg’. Are they similar? Not at all.
‘Break a leg’ is an idiom often used to wish a person success on an endeavor, despite how negative it sounds literally. ‘Shake a leg’ is also an idiom but it is not much different from its literal implication.
To “shake a leg” means to make a start or to rouse oneself. Standing up on your feet doesn’t mean you have woken up.
You may have woken up but maybe not fully. For someone who is still slumbering, his or her morning hasn’t started yet.
The person has to do some jumping jacks and wash his or her face. He or she has to do just anything to get himself or herself active. That is what it means to shake a leg.
Say this to a person who is half awake. We all need this piece of advice at times.
Come to life
Have you ever woken up with little to no remembrance of the previous night? I have been privy to these things a number of times.
I know a lot of people who fall asleep, sleepwalk and do silly things, and wake up the next day without realizing what happened the previous night.
You can agree that we don’t seem very much alive when we fall asleep. A lot of things can happen around us and our eyes will stay closed.
We never realize them till we wake up to reality. Say this to a person who is still deep asleep and shake him or her up.
Fall off the bed
This sounds like a good wish or pretty much the opposite. What’s the worst that could happen if you roll off the bed?
It’s probably culture in some places to just pull a person’s leg to wake him or her up. The person can be pulled right off the bed. It’s dangerous but it works every time. It doesn’t sound like good advice but it works.
Saying this doesn’t mean you want the person to fall off the bed. It will be taken as a joke and that is what it is. You can say this to your friend who is just half awake.
He or she may have woken up but be feeling too lazy to get up. What do we do when we have to get up but don’t feel like it? Sometimes, we just roll on the bed like it would give us some strength.
Wakey, wakey- eggs and bacon (or bakey)
Rhymes are interesting, don’t you think? You can wake your friend or your siblings up with this expression. Whether the person is fast asleep or half awake, this should work.
It will sound quite funny too. Saying this doesn’t mean you are making eggs and bacon for whomever you are talking to.
That would make much sense but it’s not necessary. It’s just there for the rhyme. The addition may also help in getting him or her up quickly. No one rejects a nice breakfast in bed.
Fire, fire!
This is a funny one but it could be serious too. We don’t want fire around our beds. We also don’t have to start fires to get stubborn people out of bed. However, who dares to remain in bed when the fire is eating everything up?
By shouting ‘Fire, Fire!’, you are implying that there is a fire somewhere and people are in danger. You are indirectly telling people to get to safety.
Immediately the person hears this, he or she will get up. You can apologize for the joke later. Mission successful.
Top of the morning to you
This is a good luck wish for the morning. You don’t say this to someone who is fast asleep. It is very similar to ‘Good morning’. You don’t just say the phrase and leave it hanging.
Whoever says this doesn’t expect to be left hanging. In other words, a response will be demanded.
You can say ‘top of the morning’ to a person who is already active. He or she can respond by saying ‘Thanks’. He or she could also just say ‘Good morning’ or ‘You too’.
This phrase is just a way of saying ‘I wish you the best of the morning’. No one says that to a sleeping person. At least, that doesn’t wake the person up. You can say this to a person who is half awake, however.
Hear ye! Hear ye! Sleepyhead!
‘Hear ye!’ is an allusion from the bible. It is an old phrase often used to get the attention of people and pass on information.
Saying this will sound quite funny unless your subject wakes up with the common morning ‘bad mood’.
Don’t say this to someone who still seems deep asleep unless you are shaking him or her up first. You can tap the person and get him or her half awake. Then you can say this. It is a good alternative to an aggressive pull or shake.
By saying ‘Hear ye!’, you are calling the person’s attention. You don’t need to have anything meaningful to say. You can simply say the day is bright.
Rise and grind
‘Rise and grind’ seems close to ‘Rise and shine’. They are both ‘good morning’ phrases but they are definitely different.
As explained in the introduction, ‘Rise and shine’ combines an admonition to wake and a good wish. ‘Rise and grind’ is simply two admonitions.
‘Grind’ means hustle. To grind is to work hard for survival. Therefore, this idiom is simply an admonition to wake up and get to work.
Early bird gets the worm
This sounds more like good advice, though it may not be taken unless it is applicable to the situation.
This is an idiom and a witty saying implying that punctuality increases the chances of success. It’s the person that reaches out first that hits the target.
You can use this phrase to get a person out of bed. It implies that those who wake earlier are closer to achieving their aims for the day.
Just so you know, not everyone is thinking of their aims so the meaning of this idiom is not what will get the person to stand up.
Get up and bounce
This is similar to ‘Rise and grind’, except this one doesn’t make you feel bad about being lazy. You must agree that seeing other people work harder than you can make you feel pretty bad about yourself.
You may get this feeling when you are asked to work at a time you don’t feel like it. This should be more relatable if you find yourself feeling lazy often.
‘Get up and bouncing’ is an admonition to wake up and just move your body. You are not directly advised to hustle or work hard for anything so that spares you the guilt of laziness.
You can choose to bounce wherever you want. You can bounce to your place of work and hustle. You can bounce to a recreational center and just keep bouncing.
You can also just bounce to the kitchen and make yourself a sandwich.
Look alive
Sometimes, you still need to be woken up after you have gotten out of bed. We already spoke of people who slumber even while on their feet.
This may sound strange to you but it shouldn’t. It’s not stranger than the idea of sleepwalking.
The person may have woken up but still look sleepy. His or her eyes may seem to be half-closed or slowly closing up. He or she may just look dull.
You can tell him or her to come alive. It is almost the same as ‘Shake a leg’. The difference is this one has to do with the face.
Wake up, lazy bone
This is quite simple. You can just tell the person to wake up.
You can give the person a soft tap before telling him or her to wake up. This really works too.
Coffee time
This is slightly metaphoric. Your friend really may need a cup of coffee if he or she is still deep asleep in the morning. Give him or her a tap, then say this. The message will be passed.
You may also say this if the person is half awake. You have given a piece of advice. He or she may actually desire to get up. A cup of coffee may be a good idea to achieve that desire.
Quit snoring. (Quit dreaming)
After tapping your friend and getting him or her to wake up halfway, you can say this. ‘Quit dreaming’ may sound better since many people consider ‘snoring’ offensive.
No time for closed eyes
Say this if your friend is still slumbering after getting up from bed. You can hold the person by the shoulders and give him or her a shake.
It will probably annoy him or her but anger requires some energy too. Once that energy is summoned, the sleepiness is already gone. Mission accomplished.
Up, up, and away.
This idiom is used to refer to continuous progress or success in something. It also a statement used by Superman in kids’ comics when the fictional character is about to fly into the air.
Wake the f^rk up
Nothing stops you from using cuss words too. ‘F^rk’, in this context, is a minced oath for a cuss word you already know. It doesn’t refer to a cutlery item.
Time up
Say this and shake the person up, whether he or she is deep asleep or not. This sounds like something you would say before pulling your brother off the bed by the leg.
Brighten up
This is the same as ‘Look Alive’. Say this if your friend still looks dull or sleepy. You may also clap in his or her face. This often works in calling a person back to reality.