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Turn a blind eye

Idiomatic Phrase
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

To deliberately ignore something wrong or unpleasant, famously attributed to Admiral Nelson at Copenhagen.

Detailed Definition
Nelson allegedly held telescope to blind eye, claiming not to see recall signal. In poetry, it indicts willful ignorance—of injustice, abuse, or truth. Political satires (Auden) and trauma poems show consequences of looking away. The ocular metaphor links vision to morality: seeing as responsibility. Poets use it to explore complicity, where refusal to witness enables harm. Its historical weight adds gravitas, making it potent in works demanding ethical sight—refusing blindness as cowardice in face of suffering.
Example
Example in poetry:
Racial injustice: “Cop saw crime—turned blind eye to white suspect’s gun”; Historical denial: “Textbooks turn blind eye to genocide—call it ‘settlement’”; Personal avoidance: “Turned blind eye to partner’s drinking—until crash happened”; Complicity poem: “We turn blind eye to sweatshops—cheap clothes, clean conscience”.
Additional Notes
Famously attributed to Admiral Nelson at Copenhagen, who allegedly held telescope to blind eye, claiming not to see recall signal. In poetry, it indicts willful ignorance—of injustice, abuse, or truth. Political satires (Auden) and trauma poems show consequences of looking away. The ocular metaphor links vision to morality: seeing as responsibility. Educators can use it to explore complicity, where refusal to witness enables harm. Its historical weight adds gravitas, making it potent in works demanding ethical sight—refusing blindness as cowardice in face of suffering and affirming that witnessing is a moral act.
Also Known As
Ignore deliberately Pretend not to see Look the other way
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