As I was in the car today, travelling through the streets of Jakarta, I saw a sign that had the word limelight on it. It's commonly understand that to be in the limelight means to be in the center of attention. But what does that have to do with the fruit?
As it turns out, not much. The reference to lime is actually calcium oxide. Limelight was a type of stage lighting used theatres and music halls in the 1860s and 1870s. An oxyhydrogen flame is directed at a cylinder of lime (calcium oxide) and through the combined effects of incandescence and candoluminescence, it produces a bright, intense light. The beam of light is then directed at a performer on stage. The original limelight has since been replaced by modern spotlights but the term still endures.
