came to light by..

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Krrzysiek R. - 03 Mar 2004 17:55 GMT

I was reading my friend's homework, a review of a threatrical play,
and came across a sentance that read:
"The wide range of talent came to light by watching them perform the
ballet [...]"

It sounded strange to me so I asked her what she was trying to say by
that. The teacher said the sentence is perfectly OK but I still find
it strange (for a reason which I don't want to tell you because I want
to check something).

Would any of you be so kind and tell me if the sentence is correct
regardless of what my friend meant, and if the sentence is correct if
she was trying to say that she became aware of the actors' talent by
watching them perform the ballet?

Thanks in advance,
Krrzysiek

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John Ings - 03 Mar 2004 19:36 GMT

>I was reading my friend's homework, a review of a threatrical play,
>and came across a sentance that read:
[quoted text clipped - 10 lines]
>she was trying to say that she became aware of the actors' talent by
>watching them perform the ballet?

Yes, "came to light" meaning "was revealed" or "was discovered" is a
common phrase in English.

To check on things like that, use a Google search.
I just did one on that phrase and got 187,000 hits.
for example:

Voucher oversight problems slowly came to light
From Darkroom to Desktop—How Photoshop Came to Light. (book title)
Dark secrets came to light
Ward's steely mettle came to light in 1995
As evidence came to light of endocrinal changes in mammals

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Einde O'Callaghan - 03 Mar 2004 21:18 GMT

> I was reading my friend's homework, a review of a threatrical play,
> and came across a sentance that read:
> "The wide range of talent came to light by watching them perform the
> ballet [...]"

I find this sentence a little strange, although I think I understand
what is meant. It would seem less strange with "while" rather than "by".

In addition, the use of them (plural) to refer back to "talent" (an
uncountable noun) is also a bit strange, but since we don't have any
other context it may be that "them" refers back to something in an
earlier sentence in the review.

> It sounded strange to me so I asked her what she was trying to say by
> that. The teacher said the sentence is perfectly OK but I still find
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> she was trying to say that she became aware of the actors' talent by
> watching them perform the ballet?

This is my interpretation of the sentence.

Regards, Einde O'Callaghan

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Krrzysiek R. - 04 Mar 2004 08:35 GMT

> > "The wide range of talent came to light by watching them perform the
> > ballet [...]"
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> other context it may be that "them" refers back to something in an
> earlier sentence in the review.

It actually did or maybe it was "actors" instead of "them" but what I
did not like was the fact that the sentence suggests it was because of
watching them perform the ballet that their talents came to light.
Wasn't it because of their performance that their talents were
disclosed?

If you change "by" to "while" the sentence sounds better to me because
it doesn't suggest watching was the reason.

Would you agree with the above?

Krrzysiek

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Django Cat - 04 Mar 2004 18:17 GMT

> > > "The wide range of talent came to light by watching them perform the
> > > ballet [...]"
[quoted text clipped - 19 lines]
>
> Krrzysiek

>what I
>did not like was the fact that the sentence suggests it was because of
>watching them perform the ballet that their talents came to light.

You're exactly right. The main problem here is that the idiom is
being used wrongly. 'Come to light' is used when something previously
unknown becomes known (or when something lost is found... like those
pesky WMDs). You might use it in a sentence like "the full extent of
the politician's corruption has only just come to light" - literaly
the truth has come out of the darkness.

But that isn't what's happening here; it's reasonable to suppose
people going to the ballet would expect the performers to have some
talent - and we didn't only find that out by going to see the ballet.
What you want to say is something like:- "it was only through watching
the ballet that the performers' real talent became apparent". 'Became
apparent' does not = 'came to light', and your teacher is wrong.

BTW, I think we'd talk about 'dancers' not 'actors' in a ballet.

Cheers
DC Cat

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Discussion Groups / ESL Teaching / March 2004

came to light by..