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Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

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shut the lights - a regionalism or what?
Guest
21
2011/02/10 - 6:00pm

Heimhenge said:

I should have literally "brought down the light," but that would've taken more than just a BB gun.


I love it! Perhaps a chainsaw with lots of insulation. Nothing is too radical when you're facilitating astronomical observation. I have a neighbor who…but that can wait.

Peter

Guest
22
2011/02/11 - 7:20am

Heimhenge, I've had the same experiences with my astronomy club. I've also had the same thoughts about the street light on the corner of our property. Unfortunately, I don't own a BB gun.

Guest
23
2011/02/11 - 11:00am

Jackie, truth be told, some of the astronomers in my area have succeeded with a "wrist rocket" slingshot. Apparently the practice is quite common in the astronomy community. The pros at the major observatories in AZ have enough political clout (pro astronomy brings millions of $ into the state) and they can get nearby towns to enforce more strict lighting codes. Amateurs need to resort to less civilized solutions.

Interestingly, the local electric utility must have gotten the word somehow, and will install, on request, special streetlight shields that direct the light onto the street, where it belongs, and not toward adjacent residences. Now there's an (un)enlightened policy for you.

Since this is WWW, and not an astronomy forum, I figured I had to throw in at least a pun.

Who was it that said (and I'm probably paraphrasing) "A pun is the lowest form of humor, unless you thought of it first."?

EmmettRedd
859 Posts
(Offline)
24
2015/05/20 - 8:40am

Jackie said

I grew up in western Pennsylvania. I use both shut off and turn off, when it comes to the lights. I had a friend who grew up in Pennsylvania Dutch country who would say, "Outen the lights."

In barracks (and on some small islands with generators that do not run all night), there is "Lights out". It is a warning to those not in control of the lights and also a time, as in "Lights out is 9:30 pm."

deaconB
744 Posts
(Offline)
25
2015/05/20 - 9:32am

Gracie Allen wanted to have a light bulb painted black, that she could turn on when the room was too bright.

I've seen signs on photographic darkrooms warning to keep the door shut so the dark doesn't leak out.

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