Sweetness and light – notes and lexis

Sweetness and light is a phrase used to describe good-natured benevolence or harmony. Eg ‘I saw Mike the other day – he was all sweetness and light‘ i.e. he was in a kind, postive mood. Sometimes it conveys the message that this was unlike a previous attitude or performance -eg ‘She was extremely rude to the director, and then, with me, she was all sweetness and light…..’ Here it is used to describe something which is actually ‘sweet’ – eg sugar ‘ and the ‘light’ part refers to the labelling of foods with low calories or fat levels as ‘light’, sometimes spelt ‘lite’. You might find a label such as ‘mayonnaise lite’ or ‘lite biscuits’.

Lexis

to tout – verb & noun (rhymes with ‘out‘)

A) to try to sell sth, typically by a direct or persistent approach.
Eg There were people outside the football ground touting tickets i.e. trying to sell tickets to people, (maybe at a higher price). Police have warned the public to beware of ticket touts (noun) selling false tickets.

B) to attempt to persuade people of the merits of -eg Diet-coke has long been touted as the ideal drink for the weight-conscious (i.e. for people conscious of or concerned about their weight).
to gobble sth up – to eat or use sth very hurriedly
What an irony – this is ironic, because people usually imagine sweeteners would help them to reduce their calorie-intake – and this also forms part of the advertising of these products – but the research carried out suggests that the consumption of sweeteners may have the opposite effect.