Turn a blind eye

To turn a blind eye means to ignore something deliberately as if it was not there and dates from the early 19th century. It is generally acknowledged that Horatio Nelson was the source of the expression if not the actual coinage. At the battle of Copenhagen in 1801, Admiral Sir Hyde Parker was in command of the British fleet and he ordered Nelson to disengage by sending him flag signals to this effect. Nelson is alleged to have ignored the signal by putting a telescope to his blind eye with the words, “You know, Foley, I only have one eye and have a right to be blind sometimes.” This quotation comes from The Life of Admiral Lord Nelson by Clarke and M’Arthur published in 1810. Nelson was of course one of Britain’s greatest national heroes and by the 1820s the expression turn a blind eye had become well established.