English, baby!

light at the end of the tunnel

Date: Jun 21 2001

Quote

1. Quote - Listen to the quote and guess what the slang means.

“Good, there is a light at the end of the tunnel!”
—Nicole Kidman, actor, talking about finishing the movie “Moulin Rouge”.

Definition

1. Definition - Study the definition.

something good to look forward to at the end of something you’ve been doing for a long period of time; a time to feel good after finishing something
(A light at the end of the tunnel is often associated with dying and going to heaven as well. Some people think that when you die, your soul walks down a long dark tunnel with a bright and beautiful light at the end of it.)

2. Use - Learn how the slang is used.

Although it’s used only once in a while, a light at the end of the tunnel is easy to use in many different situations. If you are working very hard in school, you could say that the light at the end of the tunnel is graduation. If your job is boring, the light at the end of the tunnel for you could be a vacation.
I encourage you to use this expression, because it will be a good display of your understanding of the English language.

Examples

1. Examples - Hear some example sentences.

””I’ve been paying my cell phone bill for months, but I think I can finally see a light at the end of the tunnel. If I send 50 quid next month my bill will be completely paid off!”“

””I ran a marathon last week. It was so long and I was so tired. I didn’t really feel like there was a light at the end of the tunnel until I actually saw the finish line.”“

””My little brother is thinking about leaving university. He’s only a first year student and I don’t think he can see the light at the end of the tunnel.”“

Winners

1. Winners - See who guessed the slang definition correctly.

I think “Light at the end of the tunnel” means that the person who say this thinks that he/she has a great expectation to solve an important problem.he/she waits to solve it in a very near future.
by Hayrettin (Turkey)
There is always a hope at the end of lots of negative circumstances.There is a light at the end in the middle of the dark.
by Carmen (Spain)
Feel and see the hope after a long hard time
by Niki
I think that means something like :”I can see good results after a lot of efforts”.
by Carlo (Italy)
Meaning of “light at the end of the tunnel” is “solution to a issue or trouble”.
by Vijay
The expression: “light at the end of the tunnel” means: hope. When you say: “There is a light at the end of the tunnel”, that means: soon everything gonna be all right, the dark period (the tunnel metaphor) will be over soon. This expression is widely used in Russia due to its critical situation.
by Andrey (Israel)
We use the same expression in German. If you say that you can see the light at the end of the tunnel, you mean that there are signs of improvement in a situation which has been bad for a long time, or that a long and difficult piece of work is almost completed.
by Ute (Germany)
“light at the end of the tunnel” to me is; after all difficulty you can have a good result, rescued from difficulty things. to be in the good days after all dark days!...
by Mohammed (Adana/Turkey)

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