Transcript of “Crepuscular to Gloaming to Starlight: Words for Gentle Light”
Hi there, you have A Way with Words.
Hi, I’m Amy, and I’m calling from Vermont.
I’m actually looking for a word, and specifically when there’s just enough light to be able to see color.
And to explain, I’m actually visually impaired with photophobia, so that’s my comfort zone.
And the word that typically comes to mind or people think of is dim, like, okay, diminished light, but it’s not very colorful.
So I’m looking for something more like gloaming, which I really like, but not so much what it means, because coming from glowing, it’s too bright, really.
So you think of dawn and dusk or weather conditions like overcast, fog.
But really, I’m just looking for something light specific.
I’m hoping you can help.
Amy, are you wanting to talk with other people about this then?
Or is it a word that you just want to keep in your heart and ponder?
Or why are you looking for a particular word?
Because I do a lot of cursing of the sun.
So I’m hoping for a word that I can be very pleased with.
Yes, this is the amount of light that I like.
And you want a single word.
I mean… a multitude of words.
It could be in other languages.
You know, I’m happy to have a full quiver of options to use.
What level of light are we talking about here?
Can you describe it further?
It’s like I used to love moonlight, but that got too bright.
So I can handle up to maybe a half moon.
I typically get up early in the morning, but I don’t like dawn because that’s when the light starts.
So I prefer pre-dawn.
Dusk is great, but you quickly lose, you know, the light gets to the point where you can’t see the color any longer.
Right.
And so it’s really, it can happen any time of the day or night.
Maybe not night, because I don’t like artificial light either.
Right enough to see color, but dark enough so it doesn’t hurt your eyes.
Exactly.
I’m thinking about things that are luminous, like glow worms and, you know, certain molds and bacteria and fungus.
But I’m also, starlight is a word I really like, but I think that’s too dark for you.
I do like starlight.
Yeah.
Radiant is too bright.
Subdued, I think, is good for this.
Subdued also suggests that you don’t want anything to suddenly, suddenly brighten.
So that’s the thing is sometimes in our environments, things are erratic.
Light is, turns on and off or flashes.
Yeah.
Yeah.
So that’s what you got to avoid as well.
Clouds are wonderful, but then it becomes partly cloudy and you get hit with this light beam.
Yeah, I’m thinking of things like Alpenglow, you know, which you see way up north, something like that.
And this may be something that we have to put out to our listeners all over the world.
They might have some ideas there.
I have a couple of other ideas for you, just that I’m thinking of from Greek and Latin.
And of course, there’s crepuscular in English, which I’ve always loved.
But that has to do with twilight.
And that’s not really where you’re wanting to go with that.
I’m also thinking of one of my favorite words is antelucan, A-N-T-E-L-U-C-A-N, which is it refers to those moments in the dawn before the light really comes up.
But again, you didn’t want pre-dawn things.
So I have one other thought that I’ve just made up on the spot.
I’m liking this.
Okay.
Well, you might tuck this into your quiver.
I’m thinking about, in terms of Greek roots, there’s a word hypnagogic, which means leading to sleep.
And the agogic there is the leading part.
And I’m thinking about the word root chrome.
And I’m wondering if chromagogic, you know, leading to color is sort of what you’re talking about.
Those moments before it gets colorful.
Mm— chromagogic?
Yeah, I thought of.
Oh.
I just made that up.
So many possibilities there.
Amy, we are going to throw this out to our international cadre of super intelligent and clever listeners and see if they can come up with something for you, okay?
Sounds fantastic.
Until then, we’re just going to call that Amy Light.
I like that.
That’s the best one yet.
Yes.
Yes, because there’s, you know, that whole notion of liking or loving Amy Light.
I like that.
A-M-I-L-I-G-H-T.
I think we’ve got it.
Amy Light.
And we’ll see what everyone else has to say.
If you can identify that perfect level of light just before you see colors that won’t hurt some very sensitive eyes.
Or you can email us words@waywordradio.org.
Amy, it sounds like a really difficult situation that you are handling with aplomb.
I love how creative you’ve been in identifying your own situation.
Best of luck to you.
And I thank you for listening for the show.
Yeah, thanks for an interesting question.
Well, thank you both.
Really appreciate it.
All right.
Take care of yourself.
Bye-bye.
Bye-bye.
Bye, Amy.
