turn a blind eye

English

Etymology

Admiral Horatio Nelson said this when wilfully disobeying a signal to withdraw during a naval engagement.

You know, Foley, I have only one eye - and I have a right to be blind sometimes... I really do not see the signal. 1809, Life of Nelson

Pronunciation

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Verb

turn a blind eye

1. (idiomatic) To ignore or deliberately overlook, especially with respect to something unpleasant or improper, to look the other way. To knowingly refuse to acknowledge something which you know to be real.

   Synonyms: (obsolete) connive, shut one's eyes, look the other way, wink

   The mother turned a blind eye to her son’s mischief as she expected him not to repeat it.

   • 1880 October 11, James Jackson Jarves, "Future American Art," The New York Times, page 2:

     In this my countrymen, without having produced any really very great work, by the old standards, make a respectable show. [...] In saying this, however, we must turn a blind eye to a considerable number of statues of our distinguished citizens which even more lamentably exhibit the defects arising from ignorance of modeling and design.

Translations

to ignore or deliberately overlook

• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 視而不見／视而不见 (zh) (shì'érbùjiàn), 视而不见 (zh) (shì'érbùjiàn), 漠然置之 (zh) (mòránzhìzhī)

• Dutch: door de vingers zien
• Finnish: katsoa läpi sormien, katsoa vierestä, seurata katseella
• French: fermer les yeux (fr)
• German: ein Auge zudrücken (de), wegschauen (de), wegsehen (de), die Augen verschließen vor
• Hungarian: szemet huny
• Icelandic: sjá í gegnum fingur við
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Italian: chiudere un occhio
• Japanese: 見て見ぬふりをする (みてみぬふりをする, miteminufuri o suru)
• Polish: przymknąć oko
• Portuguese: fazer vista grossa (pt)
• Russian: смотре́ть сквозь па́льцы (ru) (smotrétʹ skvozʹ pálʹcy) (watch through fingers), закрыва́ть глаза́ (zakryvátʹ glazá) (на что-либо)
• Spanish: hacer la vista gorda, hacerse de la vista gorda
• Swedish: se genom fingrarna (sv), se mellan fingrarna
• Thai: เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่ (th) (ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi)