Over the weekend, while watching television news, I heard two different people, in unrelated stories, describing realization processes. One said, “Suddenly a light bulb went off in my head.” (At least he didn’t say the light bulb literally went off in his head.) The other said, “All of a sudden, it was like a light bulb went off.”
Am I wrong or, when one has idea—or when something comes to light—the light bulb goes on?
This morning, I set out to research this. What I found upon searching “light bulb went off” were one or two blogs addressing this very subject, and a long list of entries comprising serious text in which the expression is used incorrectly.
There’s no mistaking the imagery. A light goes on, things become clear. One has an idea or, appropriate for the season, epiphany. This makes perfect sense, so why are light bulbs going off in so many heads?
Maybe we can remember it this way: Lights go on and sounds go off.
Sirens go off, alarms go off, firecrackers and explosives go off.
Or maybe it’s not so simple. When my alarm goes off in the morning, doesn’t it really go on?
Either way, if any of us is ever interviewed about a brilliant idea—and if we choose to use the light bulb image—let’s remember how to use it in such a way that our audience still thinks we’re brilliant. And let’s remember that also means not saying “literally.”
Word Nymph 
Just make sure it doesn’t go ‘out.’
I am thinking that with many folks to say the bulb went “off” is probably closer to the truth than the bulb went “on”!
Heh! Good one.
It can make you crazy, trying to dig into the right and wrong of colloquial phrases. What does “out like a light” mean, anyway? Or, how about the really esoteric ones: “Every now and again”, “Once in awhile”, my erm… favorite, “I’m only sayin’ “?
I’d rather see a light bulb, going on OR off, rather than hear about
“A hah moments.”
Can you clear this up for me?
Which is obvious, glaringly or blaringly? I have seen both.
To me, and I might be overthinking, it seems as if it is a visual thing it would be glaringly since a glare is visual. Audio would be blaringly, following the same logic.
Or is only one correct, or neither?
Without looking it up, offhand I’d say glare pertains to sight and blare pertains to sound.
Monica Welch Sent from my iPhone