Discussion Groups / English Usage / May 2009

On 31 May 2009, bert wrote

So one vote for "light well";  ta.

(It's more than perfectly familiar to me, too -- absolutely bog
standard term -- but mentally I guess I think of it as a compound
noun rather than a phrase.)

I find lightwell attractive but resistible. When I write about oil and
gas wells I don't join them up, and I don't see why light should be
differently treated, though I concede it does go down rather than up;
but in all cases the well is a conduit for the fluid. And I'm happy to
have an argument about quantum electrodynamics, if the fluidity of light
is questioned.

I don't know what to make of light-well. It's a bit of a trimmer,
avoiding major offence to either party. Call it the Vicar of Bray of
optical technology - a bit of a luxury, what?

My mind seized up when I read this:
http://www.urban-rock.co.uk/lightwell-access-abseiling.php

   A major concern for facility manager on large and small buildings
   alike is how to gain access to an area in which the fall of the land
   prevents the use of traditional methods of access. Many building
   have an area like this in the form of light wells, court yard,...

As a matter of personal preference I would write "lightwell" rather than
"light well" or "light-well".

But as a matter of correctness I would write "courtyard" rather than
"court yard". OED has "court-yard" but not "court yard".