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I'm British; we would say "batting an eyelid". So correct usage in my book!
by Thev00d00 5y ago
I'm British; we would say "batting an eyelid". So correct usage in my book!
- jjallen 5y agoIn American English we just say "batting an eye".
- headsoup 5y agoThat would hurt!
- jjallen 5y agoYes, I have been wondering what that even means. So many idioms and phrases don't make sense (ignoring the fact that some are historically outdated which is the cause of some of them not making sense)
- bookofjoe 5y agohttps://www.idioms.online/not-bat-an-eye/ https://www.idioms.online/not-bat-an-eye/
- robwwilliams 5y agoTry this old idiomatic phrase: “beating the boundary”. Once you have made your guess as to the meaning, then and only then link to Wikipedia for a marvelous explanation from a not-so merry old England.
- webmaven 5y agoBasically, it means 'without blinking'.
- JohnBooty 5y agoWell, then "opening your eyes" would hurt even more, right? But we still say that, and everybody understands. When we say "batting an eye", "opening an eye", etc it's clear that we're talking about eye lids since the alternative would be very painful and make no sense. Colloquially, when we refer to "eyes", we're almost always referring to the facial structure through which the eyeball is visible and almost never the literal eyeball itself. I mean, when you say somebody has attractive eyes, surely it's understood that you're not referring to the spherical ball of goo itself, but rather their facial structure.
- godelski 5y agoIt's the same thing. Just drop the "lid"
- eutectic 5y agoI'm English and I've always seen it as 'bat(ting) an eye'. I don't think I've often heard it said though.