Talk:lit

My mom says it means to land or or sit. " Like a bird lit on a branch."

Perhaps that's alit?--Simplificationalizer (talk) 20:49, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

It's the old verb "light" which is, as you note, a variant or synonym of "alight". Since the entry [[light]] distinguishes these verbs, I've separated the "past tense of" lines in this entry, and added usexes. - -sche (discuss) 22:40, 27 March 2017 (UTC)

No, we already have it here: "simple past tense and past participle of light (“alight: land, come down on”)". Equinox ◑ 23:18, 28 March 2017 (UTC)

Sense 4 etymology

Does sense 4 (Excellent, fantastic; captivating) come from sense 2 (intoxicated or under the influence of drugs; stoned) or sense 3 (Sexually aroused (usually of a female), especially visibly sexually aroused)?--Simplificationalizer (talk) 22:00, 31 March 2017 (UTC)

It might just be from the past participle, from the notion that something that has been lit (i.e. ignited) is "on fire". (Our entry on that phrase is currently lacking.) Use of synonymous or allusive constructions that reference the same underlying metaphor is not that uncommon in slang. Sadly, few references have the sense and hence I can't find any that offer insight. Somewhat off-topic, some dictionaries say the "intoxicated" sense is mostly used with "up" and comes from the "ignite (a cigarette)" sense of "light" which is also often used with "up". - -sche (discuss) 22:25, 31 March 2017 (UTC)