Turning a blind eye

Turning a blind eye
"Blind eye" redirects here. For the drink, see Red eye (drink).

The idiom turning a blind eye is used to describe the process of ignoring unpopular orders or inconvenient facts or activities.

The phrase to turn a blind eye is attributed to an incident in the life of Admiral Horatio Nelson.

Nelson was blinded in one eye early in his Royal Navy career. In 1801, during the Battle of Copenhagen cautious Admiral Sir Hyde Parker, in overall command of the British forces, sent a signal to Nelson's forces giving him discretion to withdraw. Naval orders were transmitted via a system of signal flags at that time. When this order was given to the more aggressive Nelson's attention, he lifted his telescope up to his blind eye, said "I really do not see the signal", and his forces continued to press home the attack.[1][2]

Despite popular opinion that he was disobeying orders, the signal gave him discretion to withdraw when he wanted to. Still, even at the time, some of the people on his ship may have thought otherwise, since they were not aware of the exact content of the signal.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Hibbert p.261
  2. ^ Pocock p.237

References


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