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December 13, 2007 1:16 pm
What's the origin of the idiom "to keep one's eye peeled" as a statement of visual vigilance? Inquiring minds...
Dan
3 Replies
December 13, 2007 11:11 am
I've not researched this, but mightn't the image be that of the eyelid peeled back? Metaphorically, of course.
December 13, 2007 11:31 am
Sounds like you're on the right track, Martha. Michael Quinion has written about this phrase here.
There's also this alternate idiom: "keep one's eyes skinned."
December 13, 2007 1:16 pm
Eeeeeuw.
Of course, now you have me thinking about the fact that the uvea of the eye takes its name from the Latin word for "grape."
Here's fruit in yer eye!