# 睜隻眼閉隻眼



## KYC

Hello, there:
I am wondering how to say "睜隻眼閉隻眼" in English.
May I have your answer?
Thanks a lot!


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## xiaolijie

"(He) opens (his) eyes/ (He) closes (his) eyes", perhaps?

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When you ask a question, please give some context for the question to make it easier for people to help you. The least you can do is to give a sentence where the phrase forms a part of (If the word or phrase you're asking about doesn't belong to any sentence, then you should look up for its meaning in a dictionary first). You may already be aware that in some of our neighbouring forums (English Only, etc...), we're not allowed to answer questions until contexts for the questions are provided.
(Edit: This note is not just for you but is a reminder to all members who are not in the habit of giving the contexts for their questions.)


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## mrdrx

hi xiaolijie.

"(He) opens (his) eyes/ (He) closes (his) eyes" is the literal meaning of this sentence.In fact,this is kinda chinese  idiom which means someone has seen another person committing something bad but he pretended not to have seen it and let it go without doing anything hence he will not get himself into trouble or he has received money from the person.


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## xiaolijie

Thank you mrdrx! I suspected that. 
Without context, any offer of help is in for surprises and that is precisely the reason for my long sermon 

Here are some similar expressions in English: *bury one's head in the sand; pretend not to know; turn a blind eye*,...

(There is also this expression "*see no evil, hear no evil*", but it requires a good level of English to use it well.)


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## KYC

Hi, thanks a lot!
Sorry, I should have give more comtext.
I heard a joke in Chinese.
A said :What if your husband have an affair?
B said: Well, then all I can do is just 睜隻眼閉隻眼.
A: Wow, you are so tolerate.
B: No, I just shoot him.( the gesture)
So can you tell me how to say 睜隻眼閉隻眼 in English?
Thanks a lot!


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## xiaolijie

A said :What if your husband have an affair?
B said: Well, then all I can do is just 睜隻眼閉隻眼. =>

B said: Well, then all I can do is just _turn a blind eye to it_/ then all I can do is just _pretend not to know_.


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## KYC

Thanks a lot!


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## sunjingtao7996

KYC said:


> Hi, thanks a lot!
> Sorry, I should have give more comtext.
> I heard a joke in Chinese.
> A said :What if your husband have an affair?
> B said: Well, then all I can do is just 睜隻眼閉隻眼.
> A: Wow, you are so tolerate.
> B: No, I just shoot him.( the gesture)
> So can you tell me how to say 睜隻眼閉隻眼 in English?
> Thanks a lot!


I don't think that the interpretation of "睜隻眼閉隻眼" to "turn a blind eye to it" is appropriate here because "睜隻眼閉隻眼" obviously has a double meaning. In this joke, "睜隻眼閉隻眼" not only means that she will pretend not to know what her husband did, but also refers to what she will do if she knows what he did--close one of her two eyes and aim at her husband with the other open eye, and then fire. So what will you say to "turn a blind eye to him"? Is this reasonable and grammartical?


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## xiaolijie

sunjingtao7996 said:


> So what will you say to "turn a blind eye to him"? Is this reasonable and grammartical?


No it doesn't work in English. Here you "turn a blind eye" to his action, and not the person, so you'll have to find a different way to say what you want to say. My suggestions above are simply possible language translations for "睜隻眼閉隻眼" and I didn't even think of trying to translate the joke.


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## Youngfun

I thought this idiom was universal 
Now I know it doesn't exist in English...

The joke can be translated very well in Italian, as in Italian "chiudere un occhio" (close one eye) has the same meaning as the Chinese idiom.


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## AquisM

Oh, I get the joke now!  How unfortunate that English doesn't have a similar idiom! But it does have a particular story behind it...


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## Youngfun

But it's still strange for me that the same idion exist in 2 completely different languages, i.e. Chinese and Italian, but not in English.

Maybe "having a blind eye on something" belongs more to the Chinese and the Italian culture, than to the anglosaxon culture.


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## xiaolijie

"To turn a blind eye to (something)" is an idiom and we can't change it but I think someone highly skilled in the language may come up with something else that is more like the Chinese or Italian expression. So, I'm waiting for such a talent to come to our aid


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## Ghabi

I suppose we need to use another idiom if we're to deliver the punch line in English. Perhaps something like:

-What if your husband cheats on you?
-Well, I'll just let him ...
-Let him, no way!
-Let him HAVE IT! (shooting gesture)


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## GamblingCamel

xiaolijie said:


> I think someone highly skilled in the English language may come up with something else


And Ghabi did !! 


Ghabi said:


> -What if your husband cheats on you?
> -Well, I'll just let him ...
> -Let him, no way!
> -Let him HAVE IT!


Excellent, G. !!


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## xiaolijie

Yes, you're right, GamblingCarmel! When I said "*I'm waiting* for such a talent", I knew that we've got someone like Ghabi in residence


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## Youngfun

Very nice 
I didn't know the idiomatic meanings of "let him" and "let him have it" 
Ghabi could work as foreign movies dubbers, where some expressions that have double sense, or are humorous in one language, must retain their double sense/humourousity once translated.


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## KYC

Hi, everyone.
Thanks for your replies.
I learn a lot!
Especially thanks Ghabi for your vivid translation!


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