The Wildest Sleep-Talking Moments You Didn’t Know You Needed To Hear

Sleep talking (a fancy word: somniloquy) can sound like:

1. whispered secrets to the ceiling
2. chit-chat at normal volume
3. sudden shouted words that make you jump
4. full-on conversations you'd swear were real
5. nonsense babble mixed with grunts and weird noises

Crazy, right? Usually, people have no clue they're doing it unless someone spills the tea later.

Dream expert Deirdre Barrett from Harvard says sleep talkers sometimes drop little slices of real life, but mostly it’s gibberish mashed with random movie plots or pure nonsense. So no, your sleep-talking buddy isn't always spilling the tea for real.

Also, it turns out lots of us do it! About 20% of kids and 6% of adults are regular sleep talkers. That’s a lot of midnight chatting!

You can chat in your sleep during any sleep phase, but it’s way more common when you’re not in deep REM mode. During REM, your body’s basically frozen (thankfully), but sometimes your brain mixes signals and lets the words slip out. When that happens in lighter sleep, parts of your brain briefly 'wake up' and start yakking.

Anything that messes with your sleep can boost your chances of sleep talking, like:

1. jet lag shaking you up
2. not getting enough zzz’s
3. stuffy breathing from sleep apnea
4. stress and anxiety causing brain chaos
5. tipsy or too much party fun the night before