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sweetness and light

noun
/ˌswiːtnəs n̩ ˈlaɪt/UK

Etymology

First used by the Anglo-Irish author Jonathan Swift (1667–1745) in A Full and True Account of the Battel Fought Last Friday, between the Antient and the Modern Books in St. James’s Library, known as “The Battle of the Books”, which was originally published in A Tale of a Tub (1704): see the quotation.

Definitions

  1. That which is good, pleasant, pure, etc.

    • The Difference is, that inſtead of Dirt and Poiſon, we have rather choſe to fill our Hives with Honey and Wax, thus furniſhing Mankind with the two Nobleſt of Things, which are Sweetneſs and Light.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for sweetness and light. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA