How to Pronounce the Idiom: ‘Out Like a Light’

How to Pronounce the Idiom: ‘Out Like a Light’

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Tagged With: Idioms

English is full of idioms.  Learn how to use and pronounce ‘Out like a Light’ comfortably in conversational English:  what words or syllables to reduce, how to link everything together, and the melodic shape of the phrase.

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Today I’m going to go over the idiom ‘out like a light’. I can mean two different things. It can mean in a very deep sleep, or it can mean unconscious. I actually found myself using this the other day describing how well I was sleeping. I didn’t hear the sirens last night, I was out like a light. However, I’ve also used it before for having been unconscious. I was chopping vegetables one day not too long ago and I cut off the very end of my thumb. And I ended up at the ER. And when they took the bandage off of my thumb, I immediately passed out. I was out like a light.

This phrase begins with the ‘ow’ as in ‘now’ diphthong, ow, ow, and it then has the T. It’s a final T, so you might hear it as a stop T, out, out, or you might hear it lightly released, out, out. Like, the L consonant sound and the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong. Out li-, out li-, kk. The K consonant sound — out like, out like, a. The schwa. Out like a. Out like a. And finally, light, the L consonant sound, the ‘ai’ as in ‘buy’ diphthong, and again a final T. So, it might be stopped, or it might be released. Light or light. You’ll notice the words ‘out’ and ‘light’ are the stressed words here. Out like a light. Out like a light. I was out like a light.

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