# Which sounds better to you? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 17, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250 "2005-05-17T15:53:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/1 "2005-05-17T15:53:02Z")
1. It was a well lighted room. 2. It was a well lit room. Does one sound better to you than the other, or are they doth equal. When you reply also state where you are from to see if any variation is based on locality. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/2 "2005-05-17T15:59:57Z")
I prefer “lit.” East coast of the US, but I’ve got some heavy midwestern influences. ---
**Author:** ![Monstre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e274bd/32.png) [@Monstre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monstre)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/3 "2005-05-17T16:06:17Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > or are they doth equal. I say “well-lit”. I’m in Florida. Now, which do you prefer? 1. are they doth equal? 2. are they both equal? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@TheBoneyKingofNowhere](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheBoneyKingofNowhere)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/4 "2005-05-17T16:06:34Z")
1. It was a well lit room. Central Nebraska ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/5 "2005-05-17T16:12:04Z")
“lit” I also prefer “have proven” “lighted” and “have proved” kind of irk me ---
**Author:** ![FilmGeek](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@FilmGeek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FilmGeek)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/6 "2005-05-17T16:16:50Z")
Lit. This is coming from a midwest cinematographer. ---
**Author:** ![Grrr](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grrr/32/146_2.png) [@Grrr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grrr)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/7 "2005-05-17T16:50:38Z")
I’m no english major, but isn’t “well lit” the only gramaticaly correct one? Needless to say, I’ll go with “well lit” Dallas Tx. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/8 "2005-05-17T16:54:19Z")
From a designers’ pov, " a well lighted room" would mean that the fixtures and lamps were well chosen, however grammatically incorrect it may be. “Well lit” means you can see everything just fine or you have consumed too much alcohol 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/53a042/32.png) [@RancidYakButterTeaParty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RancidYakButterTeaParty)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/9 "2005-05-17T17:02:12Z")
In my “experience” a well lit room is one that is burning just fine. ---
**Author:** ![Tuco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tuco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuco)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/10 "2005-05-17T17:58:08Z")
Lit for me. I didn’t know lighted was even a word, lucky for me I didn’t point out what I thought was a grammatical error to the owners of a ‘Well lighted bookstore’ in San Francisco! ---
**Author:** ![OtakuLoki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ac8455/32.png) [@OtakuLoki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OtakuLoki)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/11 "2005-05-17T18:02:29Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > From a designers’ pov, " a well lighted room" would mean that the fixtures and lamps were well chosen, however grammatically incorrect it may be. > > “Well lit” means you can see everything just fine or you have consumed too much alcohol 🙂 I’m with **Mike G.** , here. I don’t see the two statements as being 100% equal. I prefer “well lit,” since I don’t give a foofoo about how a space recieves its lumens, only that I don’t trip over things in it. Northeast, with Canadian and southern influences. ---
**Author:** ![jimpatro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/b9e5f3/32.png) [@jimpatro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jimpatro)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/12 "2005-05-17T18:11:57Z")
Also with **MikeG**. Texan Director of Photography. ---
**Author:** ![Kalhoun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3bc359/32.png) [@Kalhoun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kalhoun)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/13 "2005-05-17T18:21:19Z")
Perfectly litten. That’s how I’d say it. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/14 "2005-05-17T18:31:03Z")
Myself I would also choose well lit. I asked because I was in a book shop the other day that proclaimed itself “A clean and well lighted place to buy books” which sounded wrong to my ears. Being a bookshop I checked a dictionary there which did list both lit and lighted as acceptable terms, so I was wondering if the use of the word lighted was perhapse a regional thing. I agree with **MikeG** who said that ‘well lighted’ suggested to him that the lights were well chosen, not that the lights were bright. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/15 "2005-05-17T18:43:50Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > I was in a book shop the other day that proclaimed itself “A clean and well lighted place to buy books” There’s a famous short story by Hemingway called “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.” I almost said something in my post about it but decided I was being a show-off. I try to wait until my show-offery is relevant. ---
**Author:** ![Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ac8455/32.png) [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/16 "2005-05-17T21:01:34Z")
Why did Hemingway use the ‘wrong’ term 😉 So the bookshop was a place for lonely old men to hang out, not sure that is much of an attractive idea. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Robson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gary_robson/32/3448_2.png) [@Gary\_Robson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Robson)\ **Post date:** [May 17, 2005, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/17 "2005-05-17T21:11:49Z")
I prefer “well-lit” despite my favorite bookstore in my college years being called “A Clean Well-Lighted Place For Books.” I’ve mostly lived in places on the eastern front of the Rockies and in California. ---
**Author:** ![pasunejen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/58956e/32.png) [@pasunejen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pasunejen)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/18 "2005-05-18T01:12:18Z")
“Well-lit”. Grew up in central Maryland and have never completely left. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/19 "2005-05-18T01:17:06Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Why did Hemingway use the ‘wrong’ term 😉 It sounds better, in that particular case. Try saying it aloud both ways. ---
**Author:** ![Oregon\_sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/50afbb/32.png) [@Oregon\_sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oregon_sunshine)\ **Post date:** [May 18, 2005, 1:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250/20 "2005-05-18T01:20:41Z")
Lit - Ohio. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-sounds-better-to-you/304250.md?page=2)