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Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by roeme on Thursday August 21, 2014 @11:47AM (#8207909)
Interesting, I never encountered this phrase as well – is it dialect?
Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by dmm on Thursday August 21, 2014 @11:58AM (#8207976)
One of the definitions of stay is to stop something. So "I can't stay sleep." means "I can't stop sleep".

Shakespeare, Romeo and Juliet: V, iii:

"..But he which bore my letter, Friar John, Was stay'd by accident, and yesternight Return'd my letter back. "

Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by wavefunction on Thursday August 21, 2014 @12:18PM (#8208105)
It's just an awkward/antiquated phrasing. "Stay" isn't used much anymore except for "stay of execution."
Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by dllthomas on Thursday August 21, 2014 @12:39PM (#8208229)
Also, "stay one's hand". Still rare and a bit antiquated, but occurs more frequently than "stay" in this sense more generally (... is my impression).

For some data: https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=stay+my+hand+%...

Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by disputin on Thursday August 21, 2014 @11:57AM (#8207972)
A stay of execution.
Re:Loss of neurons for sleep may explain why older adults su... by LukeShu on Thursday August 21, 2014 @01:21PM (#8208459)
I (USA/Indiana) have mostly only encountered it in legal matters (recently: "Judge Young stayed today's order until ...").