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The light is burning

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JPablo
June 01, 2012, 01:18 PM
What is the sense of this expression?
Time is ticking?

I've seen "the light is burning dimly..." or "the light is burning bright" and I take it will have different connotations in different contexts, but is there any specific definition for it?

Is it something like something similar to "make hay while the sun shines"? (La ocasión la pintan calva...)

Perikles
June 01, 2012, 01:28 PM
I think the context is required - I don't think it has a specific meaning on its own.

Rusty
June 01, 2012, 01:51 PM
If someone has a task to complete, 'the light is burning' means 'time is ticking', 'you're wasting time/the day away' or 'make hay while the sun shines'. I've also heard "Daylight's burning."

JPablo
June 01, 2012, 02:02 PM
Ok, thank you both!

Yes, my context indicates the idea of 'time is ticking', it will take the sense in specific contexts, but good to know the "daylight's burning" is also a kind of a set expression...

At any rate... I better hurry up, (I am late, I am late... for a very important date...)

Glen
June 06, 2012, 07:08 PM
I seem to recall how John Wayne, in the classic movie The Cowboys, used to get everybody up in the morning for a day on the trail, with the line "C'mon boys, we're burnin' daylight!"