turn a blind eye

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• tûrn′ ə blīnd′ ī′
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• tûrn′ ā′-
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɜːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/
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• Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɜːn ˌeɪ̯-/
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• Canada, General-American: /ˈtɜɹn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/
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• Canada, General-American: /ˈtɜɹn ˌeɪ̯-/
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• Canada: /ˈtɜɹn ə ˌblʌɪ̯nd ˈʌɪ̯/
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• Australian: /ˈtɜːn ə ˌblɑe̯nd ˈɑe̯/
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• Australian: /ˈtɜːn ˌæɪ̯-/
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• Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
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• New-Zealand: /ˈtøːn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/
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• New-Zealand: /ˈtøːn ˌæɪ̯-/
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• Scotland: /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌblaɪ̯nd ˈaɪ̯/
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• Scotland: /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌblʌi̯nd ˈʌi̯/
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• Scotland: /ˈtʌɹn ə ˌbləi̯nd ˈəi̯/
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• Scotland: /ˈtʌɹn ˌe-/
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• India: /ˈʈəːrn a ˌblajnɖ ˈaj/
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• India: /ˈʈəːrn ˌeː-/
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Probably from the idea of a person turning to look at something but not seeing it, as if their eyes are blind. The term is frequently claimed to originate from an incident during the First Battle of Copenhagen on 2 April 1801, when Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson (1758–1805) was ordered by Admiral Hyde Parker (1739–1807) through signal flags to discontinue naval action against a force of the Dano-Norwegian Navy. Nelson, who had been blinded in one eye early in his career, said to his flag captain Thomas Foley (1757–1833), “You know, Foley, I have only one eye—I have a right to be blind sometimes.” He then put his telescope to his blind eye and, remarking “I really do not see the signal,” continued the assault which ended in a British victory. However, this is not the source of the term as the Oxford English Dictionary records uses dating to the 17th and 18th centuries.

45 source translations are retained for this English entry.

• Arabic: أَغْمَضَ العَيْنَيَنِ عَنْ (ʔaḡmaḍa l-ʕaynayani ʕan) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Catalan: fer els ulls grossos — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Chinese Cantonese: 隻眼開隻眼閉 /只眼开只眼闭 (zek3 ngaan5 hoi1 zek3 ngaan5 bai3) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Chinese Mandarin: 視而不見 /视而不见 (shì'érbùjiàn) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Chinese Mandarin: 漠然置之 (mòránzhìzhī) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Chinese Mandarin: 睜一隻眼閉一隻眼 /睁一只眼闭一只眼 (zhēng yī zhī yǎn bì yī zhī yǎn) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Czech: přimhouřit oko — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Dutch: door de vingers zien — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Finnish: katsoa läpi sormien — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Finnish: katsoa vierestä — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Finnish: seurata katseella — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• French: fermer les yeux — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• German: die Augen verschließen vor — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• German: ein Auge zudrücken — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• German: wegschauen — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• German: wegsehen — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Greek: κάνω τα στραβά μάτια (káno ta stravá mátia) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Hebrew: הֶעֱלִים עַיִן (he'lím 'áyin) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Hungarian: szemet huny — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Icelandic: sjá í gegnum fingur við — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Italian: chiudere un occhio — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Japanese: 見て見ぬふりをする (miteminufuri o suru) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Korean: 눈감다 (nun'gamda) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Korean: 눈감아 주다 (nun'gama juda) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Korean: 무시하다 (musihada) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Korean: 모르는 척하다 (moreuneun cheokhada) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Polish: patrzeć przez palce — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Polish: przymykać oko — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Polish: przymknąć oko — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Portuguese: fazer vista grossa — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Romanian: închide ochii (la ceva) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Romanian: se face că nu vede — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Romanian: se face că plouă — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Russian: закрыва́ть глаза́ (zakryvátʹ glazá) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Serbo-Croatian: progledati kroz prste — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Serbo-Croatian: zažmiriti (na nešto) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Spanish: hacer la vista gorda — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Spanish: hacerse de la vista gorda — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Swedish: blunda för — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Swedish: se genom fingrarna — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Swedish: se mellan fingrarna — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Thai: เอาหูไปนา เอาตาไปไร่ (ao-hǔu-bpai-naa ao-dtaa-bpai-râi) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Ukrainian: диви́тись крізь па́льці (dyvýtysʹ krizʹ pálʹci) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Ukrainian: закри́ти о́чі (zakrýty óči) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something
• Ukrainian: заплю́щити о́чі (zapljúščyty óči) — to deliberately or knowingly ignore, overlook, or refuse to acknowledge something