I know that おやすみなさい means "good night" in Japanese and it can be shortened to
おやすみ. What is the difference between the two?

In English there are other phrases such as "sweet dreams" that can be used
with a similar meaning. So are there any other common ways of saying "good
night" in Japanese?

_Background._ I would like to get a tattoo that says goodnight because I have
insomnia, and I want to get a tattoo that says goodnight in Japanese. I'm not
really knowledgeable when it comes to Japanese but I would love to learn it in
the future and this might be my gateway into learning Japanese more.
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grammar meaning usage readings politeness
Different ways of saying "good night" in Japanese
Just to be clear, both おやすみなさい and おやすみ are usually said to other people when
wishing them good night. That's just something to be aware of. I'm not sure
how that fits in with your concept for the tattoo. If you're ok with that,
then it's not an issue. But I think you should do some research and hear as
many opinions about it as possible before going with it.

If you are deciding only between おやすみ and おやすみなさい, then I think おやすみ is better
because おやすみなさい is somewhat formal. Also, おやすみ is shorter and has more impact,
in my opinion.

As another option, how about just the kanji 夢 (yume) as an option? It means
'dreams'. It is a kanji character, which people often think looks kinda cool.
It would look something like this:

[![enter image description
here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jut9r.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/Jut9r.jpg)

It has the added benefit of the figurative meaning of 'dream' too, like you
have a dream that someday you will be cured.
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answer
> おやすみなさい  
>  _oyasuminasai_

is more or less an all-purpose way of saying "good night" that is formal
enough to be used with acquaintances you do not know well, but may well be
used with friends or family. Literally it translates to "get some rest", the
〜なさい ending being a kind of imperative and お being an "honorific".

This phrase is often shortened to

> おやすみ  
>  _oyasumi_

which is probably the most common form used among friends and family.

> 良い夢を  
>  _yoi yume o / ii yume o_

is a phrase that can be taken to correspond to "sweet dreams" which can be
used in combination with おやすみ(なさい). (良い can be read either よい _yoi_ or いい
_ii_.)

Other variations, like "sleep tight" are sometimes translated as ぐっすりおやすみなさい,
but I don't think they are actually used in real life.
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answer