Shedding some light

Today’s post is all about light: shining light, shedding light, enlightening, and more.

Which of the following words fits best in the blanks: enlighten, illuminate, shed light on, shine light on, elucidate?

So you thought it would be a good idea to drop out of university and become a busker. Can you ___________ us about how you’re going to make ends meet?

The journalist was hoping her article would _____________ on the dark side of this industry.

Scientists have ________________ the causes of the rapid spread of this devastating disease.

The first chapter of this work _______________the post-War era.

Could you _________________ on the extensive changes that have been made to this text?

I would go with:

So you thought it would be a good idea to drop out of university and become a busker. Can you enlighten us about how you’re going to make ends meet? 

The journalist was hoping her article would shine a light on the dark side of this industry.

Scientists have elucidated the causes of the rapid spread of this devastating disease.

The first chapter of this work illuminates the post-War era.

Could you shed some light on the extensive changes that have been made to this text?

 

Enlighten

To enlighten someone is to provide them with information and understanding, to explain the true facts.

You’ll often hear enlighten used in a request: ‘Could you enlighten me…?’

The related adjectives (based on past and present participles) are of interest too:

enlightened means open to new ideas, showing understanding and wisdom; not following old-fashioned or false beliefs.

You could say, for example, that your employer is enlightened (if the company allows staff to work from home, or fathers to take paternity leave). You might talk about an enlightened policy, or say that a person is enlightened if they are broad-minded or liberal.

enlightening is said of a comment or conversation that gives you new insight or an ‘aha!’ moment.

Illuminate

While illuminate can mean ‘explain, give more information’ – for example, ‘this is an article which illuminates the issue’, I think it is more commonly used with the meaning ‘to light something up, to make it brighter’:

The streets were illuminated with strings of multicoloured fairy lights.

The adjective illuminating, on the other hand, is quite common, and means much the same thing as enlightening.

Shed (some) light on

This is a nice alternative to ‘explain’. It means ‘to provide explanations or information so that something can be understood easily’.

The dictionary suggests that you can also say ‘cast light on’ or ‘throw light on’, but in my experience, these are less common (or perhaps they are American English).

A more formal synonym of shed light on is elucidate (you can see the etymology is the same; all of these words are related in some way to the Latin lux, meaning light).

Shine a light on

This expression is sometimes used with its literal meaning of highlighting, or giving an explanation to make something clearer, but my feeling is that it is most commonly used to express the idea of metaphorically putting a spotlight on a secret or something unsavoury:

The US hopes a UN debate on Iran will shine a light on Tehran’s mistreatment of prisoners.

More expressions with ‘light’

  • there’s a light at the end of the tunnel (expressing hope)
  • their relationship wasn’t all sweetness and light (meaning it wasn’t always harmonious)
  • to give the green light to something (to give approval or authorisation)

Exercise

These headlines are taken from the press. Can you fill in the blanks with shed light on or shine a light on?

Chelsea Bridge death: Family of tasered man ‘want to ___________on injustice’

Ancient texts _____________ on mysterious whale behaviour that ‘captured imagination’

In dark days, parliamentary democracy must _________ the strongest possible ________ on the questions that face us all.

How ancient footprints __________ on America’s first teenagers

Azeem Rafiq’s testimony should_____________ on racism in every workplace

Let’s ____________ on the dark art of micropolitics in universities

Could whistling __________ on the origins of speech?

Labour needs to ______________ on Tory failures

Protein discovery on human eggs may _____________- on unexplained infertility

Chelsea Bridge death: Family of tasered man ‘want to shine a light on injustice’

Ancient texts shed new light on mysterious whale behaviour that ‘captured imagination’

In dark days, parliamentary democracy must shine the strongest possible light on the questions that face us all.

How ancient footprints shed light on America’s first teenagers

Azeem Rafiq’s testimony should shine a light on racism in every workplace

Let’s shine a light on the dark art of micropolitics in universities

Could whistling shed light on the origins of speech?

Labour needs to shine a light on Tory failures

Protein discovery on human eggs may shed light on unexplained infertility

These examples show clearly that ‘shed light on’ is used in the positive sense of ‘clarify, explain’, and ‘shine a light on’ is used to mean ‘investigate, show, explain something nefarious or bad’.

Verge, brink

What’s the difference between being on the verge of something, and being on the brink? Is one of them more positive than the other? What synonyms can you use instead? Here’s the lowdown.

On the verge

A verge is an edge, border, or limit (it can be used literally, as in the grass verge on each side of a road).

To be on the verge of something means to be very close to doing or experiencing something.

It is used either + noun, or + -ing (e.g. ‘on the verge of resigning’). A person can also be driven to the verge of despair, or an animal species driven to the verge of extinction.

This makes it sound as if on the verge is always something negative, and indeed, the dictionary lists collapse, tears, death, disaster, and war as terms that go well with on the verge of, but this is not the case. You will also see examples like:

  • on the verge of a significant breakthrough
  • on the verge of becoming champions
  • on the verge of success

When on the verge is used with a noun, you can often use on the edge of as a synonym (e.g. He was on the edge of tears). Occasionally you can use threshold (for example: on the threshold of a major breakthrough).

By the way, you can also use verge as a verb: to verge on means ‘to be very close to’, ‘to border on’. For example:

His comment verges on slander (= comes very close to being slanderous).

Here are some examples from the Press:

  • Haiti on verge of collapse, NGOs warn
  • Swedish rightwing on verge of narrow election win
  • Liz Truss on verge of major U-turn on real-terms benefits cut
  • Why Italy is on verge of electing its first far-right leader since…
  • Germany’s Die Linke on verge of split over sanctions on Russia

On the brink

The brink, used literally, is the edge of a cliff. We talk about pulling someone back from the brink (for example, if you got a drug addict into rehab and they made a good recovery).

Metaphorically, the brink refers to a critical point, the point where a different, and usually dangerous, situation, is about to begin.

While you may read examples like We are on the brink of a major new discovery, The company is poised on the brink of success, or They are on the brink of making a breakthrough, my feeling is that most of the time, ‘brink’ is used in a negative sense:

  • on the brink of famine
  • on the brink of ruin
  • on the brink of collapse
  • on the brink of civil war
  • on the brink of extinction
  • on the brink of bankruptcy
  • on the brink of disaster

Like verge, on the brink is used + noun or + -ing (e.g. The situation is on the brink of descending into chaos).

Two useful phrases for you: teetering on the brink (e.g. The company is teetering on the brink of bankruptcy). Here you can clearly see the meaning of ‘cliff-edge’, because teetering means you’re about to fall off, i.e. things are about to go pear-shaped.

If something good is about to happen, rather than a disaster, you would use poised: They are poised on the brink of success.

Here are some examples from the Press:

  • World on brink of five ‘disastrous’ climate tipping points
  • Liz Truss’s government on the brink after Suella Braverman’s parting shot
  • Unions on brink of ‘synchronised’ strikes, says RMT’s Mick Lynch
  • How Liz Truss plunged the UK to the brink of recession
  • Back from the brink: how bison, bears and beavers returned to the wild
  • Polls put Lula on brink of comeback victory over Bolsonaro
  • The online clothing retailer Missguided is teetering on the brink of collapse after being issued a winding-up petition by clothing suppliers
  • Europe on the brink: the states battling to stave off recession

Brinkmanship

Do you know the word brinkmanship? In politics, it means trying to get what you want by saying that if you don’t get it, you’ll do something dangerous.

The collocation engaging in brinkmanship is often used to describe what is basically a game of chicken between two groups or politicians!

Here’s an example from the papers:

“Dominic Raab accuses EU of ‘brinkmanship‘ over vaccine supply threat”

Cusp

You may have encountered on the cusp of and wondered if the meaning was the same.

The cusp is the dividing line between two different things.

For example, I could say that my daughter is on the cusp of adulthood. Cusp is often used to mark a transition between two states.

By the way, it also has a meaning in astrology: if you are ‘on the cusp of Leo and Virgo’, this means you were born within 3 days before or after the change of astrological signs.

Here are some examples from the Press:

  • Techies think we’re on the cusp of a virtual world called the Metaverse
  • Social care is on the cusp of a crisis – The Guardian
  • Congress is on the cusp of passing the most pivotal bill in years
  • Owners on cusp of selling Selfridges to Thai group for £4bn
  • IMF warns world economy may soon be on the cusp of recession

Synonyms

Here are some synonyms for the idea of being on the verge or on the brink of something:

  • ready to…
  • about to…
  • on the point of…
  • imminent
  • impending
  • inescapable
  • inevitable

There are other options: you could use words like looming or on the horizon, but they seem more distant in time.

In summary

Frankly, in many contexts, on the verge and on the brink can be used interchangeably.

If there is a difference to be found, it is that on the brink of is more negative.