What Does It Mean to Be ‘In the Limelight’?

Have you ever wondered what it means to be “in the limelight?”  

Let me tell you right now that it has nothing to do with limes.

Instead, it has to do with minerals, lighthouses, and the early days of theater.

For starters, “to be in the limelight” is an expression that means to be under intense public scrutiny—to have all eyes on you. This could be in the moment; for example, if you were an actor on stage in a critical scene. Or it could be over a period of time; if you were a celebrity caught in a scandal, for example. 

Limelight’s Invention, and Its Use in Surveying

This expression dates back to 1816. A young Scottish engineer named Thomas Drummond had been hired by Britain’s Ordnance Survey to create detailed maps of Scotland. But he struggled to get accurate readings in the murky Scottish weather. 

To solve this problem, he turned to English inventor Sir Goldsworthy Gurney. (What a name!) Gurney had developed a blowpipe that burned hydrogen and oxygen, which created an extremely hot flame. Gurney found that when he used the flame to heat calcium oxide—also known as “quicklime”—it produced an intense white light. 

This light was so spectacular, and so much brighter than other lights from that time, that viewers were stunned. Here’s what one witness said: “… when the gas began to play, the lime being brought now to its full ignition … a glare shone forth, overpowering … A shout of triumph and of admiration burst from all present.”

Limelight made it easier for surveyors to measure distances.

Drummond realized that if he placed a limelight on a reference point in the landscape, it could be seen from miles away—as many as 50 miles away. This would make the work of surveyors measuring distances immensely easier.

A New Light for Lighthouses?

Drummond’s light was used throughout the surveying of Scotland, and in the subsequent surveying of Ireland, and starting in 1829, it was put into trial for use in lighthouses. The light it created, said one witness, was “not only more vivid and conspicuous [than other types of light], but was peculiarly remarkable from its exquisite whiteness. Indeed, there seems no great presumption in comparing its splendour to that of the sun….”

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