turn a blind eye

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Antonija  #217215  Tue, 18 Apr 06 03:16 PM

Can I play with this idiom like this in a sentence:

I guess that marriage, that sacred military service which is being served with no end in sight, deserves a little bit of turning a blind eye, or both eyes and the third eye.

 

Thank you

  
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Alan.es  #217439  Wed, 19 Apr 06 05:09 AM
( big smile )

I would say yes you can but many may disagree.

It's very strange language to talk about marriage - "that sacred military service".

However if you've got a few years in like me it can sometimes feel like that ( very big smile )!

Underneath it all I get the impression that the original author is, as you say, quite ironic yet totally supportive of marriage.
  
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Antonija  #217509  Wed, 19 Apr 06 09:13 AM

You are absolutely right Alan. The author is ironic, but yet she knows she can't do anything about it.

I like reading it, although there are some parts that are far-fetched, you'll see...

  
MrPedantic  #217823  Thu, 20 Apr 06 01:16 AM

The blind eye bit sounds a little strange to me. What about:

I guess that marriage, that sacred military service which is being served with no end in sight, warrants at least the occasional turning of a blind eye, or both eyes and the third eye.

MrP

  
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julielai  #217889  Thu, 20 Apr 06 05:06 AM

My question is, of course: who is the commander and who is the foot soldier? Big Smile [:D]

  
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Antonija  #218323  Fri, 21 Apr 06 09:40 AM
 MrPedantic wrote:

The blind eye bit sounds a little strange to me. What about:

I guess that marriage, that sacred military service which is being served with no end in sight, warrants at least the occasional turning of a blind eye, or both eyes and the third eye.

MrP

Is ''deserve'' akward here, I see that you have chosen ''warrant''.

  
MrPedantic  #218594  Sat, 22 Apr 06 02:17 AM

Yes; otherwise, it seems to suggest that the blind eye is turned towards marriage. Perhaps "justifies" would do better than "warrant", though.

See you,

MrP

  
Antonija  #218663  Sat, 22 Apr 06 09:02 AM
Thank you Mister Pedantic.
  
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