What do people mean when they say they "I smoke a pack a day"?

Usually they mean from the time they wake up until they go to bed they smoke all the cigarettes that are in one pack.

They smoke 20 cigarettes in a day and have to buy a new pack the next day.

I’m afraid I don’t see the difference between the two cases in your details. Most people don’‘t smoke in their sleep.

How often do you reach the end of a pack and open a new one? If that works out to about once a day, you smoke a pack a day. If you go through a carton (10 packs) a week, that’s about a pack and a half.

Unless they are smoking while asleep, I would assume that they mean they smoke a pack between waking and going to bed.

I know people who say that they smoke 3 packs a day. I can’t see how that can be they must be letting it burn mostly. But it means every 24 hrs. if they are awake 5 hrs a day they smoke it all within 5 hrs I guess? I don’t know.

@Jeruba @glacial Obviously people don’t smoke in their sleep.

I asked it like this because I smoke on average 8 cigarettes between waking up and going to bed. A pack usually lasts me two wake\sleep cycles depending on when I open it.

@flip86 I don’t see the difference between 24 hours or waking to going to bed either. You smoke two and a half packs a week more or less. Most people in your situation say they smoke about 8 cigs a day.

@flip86 “Obviously people don’t smoke in their sleep”

Well… yes. But you asked whether people are smoking a pack while they are awake, or over a 24-hour period. The only difference between these two amounts of time is the time when people are asleep. Effectively, whether you meant to or not, you asked whether people smoke in their sleep.

I guess I can’t figure out what your actual question is. Are you asking whether people who say they are smoking a pack a day are actually smoking that many cigarettes, or exaggerating? They’re probably not – some people smoke more than that.

@glacial. People are not awake for 12 hours and asleep for 12 hours. I only sleep about 5 hours a night. So, if I open a pack when I wake up, stay wake for 14 hours, fall asleep for 5, there is still 5 hours left in that 24 hour period. That is what I meant.

…But “a day” is 24 hours, not 12.

@flip86 Then your question is really, “how long does the average person sleep”? I usually take between 7–8 hours per day. I think that’s about average.

I’m also wondering: if you’re awake for 14 hours and then asleep for 5, what’s going on during the remaining 5?

Some people are awake for 12 and asleep for 12. And probably just about every other combination that adds up to 24. “Usual” doesn’t mean “universal.”

Waking to sleeping, 20 cigarettes.

Here’s a simple version of figuring it out.

Wake up.
Open new pack.
LIght up
LIve your day, whatever length it is.
Smoke as much as you want.
Go to bed whenever you want.
Wake up the next morning.
Is the pack of cigarettes empty?

That’s a-pack-a-day habit, at least for that day.

Hmm, maybe @flip86 is saying that his circadian rhythm entails a 19-hour cycle rather than a 24-hour cycle: that he goes 14 hours on, 5 off, 14 on, 5 off, etc. (Must wreak havoc with a work schedule.) I’ve read that some people do have naturally longer or shorter cycles, although 19 hours seems unusually short to me (not that I’ve studied it or have any special knowledge).

In that case, 8 cigs per 19 hours has to be prorated to work out the per-day equivalent: 8/19 = x/24. That means he has a smoking habit of 10.1 cigarettes per (24-hour) day, if I’ve done my math right, or, in effect, half a pack a day.

My Mom used to open a new pack every morning when she woke up and when it was empty, she would crumple it up and say well, that’s my last one for today. Sometimes she would sneak a couple from my Dad. He usually went through a full pack at work each 8 hour shift and kept another open pack at home which lasted a day or two.

I think you’re probably over thinking this figure of speech. Generally speaking, the smoker will buy and consume a pack of cigarettes each day. There’s no set number of hours involved, but there’s a certainty that the cigarettes purchased Monday will be gone before Tuesday ends.