Turn A Blind Eye Origin
Berg on march 29 2001.
Turn a blind eye origin. Although the oxford english dictionary records usage of the phrase as early as 1698 the phrase to turn a blind eye is often attributed to an incident in the life of admiral horatio nelson nelson was blinded in one eye early in his royal navy career. Where can i find confirmation that the origin of this expression is admiral nelson s action in disobeying the order from the flagship to disengage by putting his eyeglass to his blind eye to read the message only to go on to defeat the enemy. To disregard deliberately or pretend not to notice something of which one disapproves.
This expression first started appearing in print around the 1820s. Origin this phrase is a shortening of to turn the deaf ear and the blind eye and variants first recorded in a discourse of walking by faith london 1698 by the philosopher and church of england clergyman john norris 1657 1712. I ll turn a blind eye once but next time you ll be in trouble.
Anantha ramana kurnool the expression has been around for several hundred years and it has the same meaning as turn a blind eye. While many proposed origins of this phrase are disputed it is commonly accepted that turning a blind eye comes from a comment made by british admiral horatio nelson. Definitions by the largest idiom dictionary.
To turn a blind eye meaning. This phrase appears to have originated from lord horatio nelson second in command of the english fleet. The phrase that we use today is a shortened version of the original to turn the.
Turn a blind eye phrase. Origin of turn a blind eye. Whenever i ask my friend about her husband she turns blind eye on it.
What is the meaning and origin of turn a nelson s eye. Nelson may not have coined turn a blind eye but it his actions in battle that have made it into an everyday expression. Turn a blind eye posted by r.
Turn a blind eye and a deaf ear every now and then and we get on marvellously well the manner of use of the phrase in that quotation suggests that it was well understood at the time. Definition of turn a blind eye in the idioms dictionary. Turn a blind eye.
During the battle of copenhagen in 1801 the cautious admiral. The origin of the expression turn a blind eye can be found in the 1801 naval battle of copenhagen when admiral horatio nelson and admiral sir hyde parker disagreed over tactics. In 1801 england was besieging copenhagen.
A gang of goons was beating an old man but instead of helping him everybody turned a blind eye. Pixabay meaning to turn a blind eye to something. Turning a blind eye is an idiom describing the ignoring of undesirable information.
The first recorded use of the phrase as we use it today comes from martha wilmot s 1819 1829 more letters from martha wilmot. If a girl turns a blind eye on your comments it doesn t mean that she started liking you. To refuse to acknowledge a known truth.
