Hello! I ask looking for a word describing the small, moving reflections cast on the wall by a shiny object, such as a watch face. The sort of dancing spot of light that might entertain a student, or annoy a teacher during a class.
I ask because a co-worker told me of such a word existing in Russian, which translates to "sunny hare" in English, presumably for the way the light hops around. Does anyone know of a similar word or expression?
Thank you!
The Russian phrase you allude to, Солнечный зайчик, also has a more prosaic meaning: sunbeam. While I would like to think that Russian has a phrase dedicated to such a charming phenomenon, that's not really the case.
So maybe in English you could coin a apt phrase. Dancing sunbeam? Sunbeam spark?
The adjective "lambent" may fit this. I have also heard the term "light play"
When I'm unsure of a foreign idiom, Google Images will often give a clue. In this case it yields a lot of literal sunny rabbits AND a lot of dancing sunbeams like this:
http://www.stihi.ru/2009/12/25/7971
But I can't think of an English equivalent either. The old word 'mote' sometimes gets close in poetry, but in modern times it seems to be mainly reserved for astronomical uses.
I'm aware of mote as a speck, as of dust, that may gleam in a sunbeam, but nothing like the reflection on a wall from a framed picture or the surface of the water in a fish tank. I'm unaware of any astronomical use of the word outside of the title of the Larry Niven-Jerry Pournelle novel The Mote in God's Eye, which is a Biblical allusion to a tiny speck. I'd love to hear of another usage.
Peter