Wednesday 2 January 2008

Phrase of the Day 174: 'out like a light'

"Out like a light"


definition: fast asleep; suddenly unconscious.

example: "After a 12-hour shift, nurse Trudy came home and she was out like a light in no time at all."

origin: In the 20th century, when the wonders of electricity spread across the land, people could turn on and shut off lights with just a flick of a switch. By the middle of the century, "out like a light" was a way of saying that a person had fallen asleep very quickly.

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