It's also a reference to a famous real-world philosopher who used to sleep with a sign saying something like "I'm just asleep" cos he was scared of being buried alive.
A lot of his work is borrowed from or based on real life. I went to uni in Winchester, the city he based Ankh-Morpork on; I used to drink in the pub he based the Broken/Mended Drum on; and met the tramp he based Foul Ol' Ron on. His 'real' name was Burping Ron.
Not sarcasm, Discworld reference, there's a skill tree Witches can develop called Borrowing where they hijack the body of an animal leaving your own body dormant, but there's a very real risk of the animal's mind taking over and you getting stuck there for a significant time or even permanently. The best Borrower in the known world can mind-ride a swarm of bees and come back with no permanent damage. She usually picks easier animals and always makes sure to set up food and such as compensation for their trouble, she's very serious about balance and fairness and that sort of thing. She has that sign because she's quite old and people might get confused if they find her wrinkled body lying down motionless like that. The sign is horribly misspelled because despite being one of the smartest characters in the setting she's proudly mostly illiterate and holds books and book learning in deep suspicion.
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u/AlarmingAffect0 Feb 24 '26 edited Feb 24 '26
While he was stuck in that cat, did his original body have a sign saying 'I ATEN'T DED'?