<P> To "trip the light fantastic" is to dance nimbly or lightly, or to move in a pattern to musical accompaniment . It is often used in a humorous vein . As early as 1908 it was viewed as a cliché or hackneyed phrase . Grammatically, it is an example of a constructionally idiosyncratic idiom, in that it is impossible to construct a meaningful literal - scene from the formal structure . As such it should be viewed as a catena . </P> <P> This phrase evolved through a series of usages and references . The phrase is typically attributed to Milton's 1645 poem L'Allegro, which includes the lines </P>

What does it mean to trip the light fantastic