Timeline for origin of the expression "one eye on the past, one eye on the future"
Current License: CC BY-SA 3.0
8 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mar 11, 2018 at 11:56 | answer | added | Taonga Msiska | timeline score: -2 | |
| Feb 22, 2018 at 8:47 | answer | added | Zach | timeline score: -2 | |
| May 7, 2015 at 5:02 | comment | added | user120772 | I just watched Ray Mears' Extreme Survival in Belarus. At the end of the episode, one of the Belarusian Jews speaks of an "Russian saying".. "if you keep one eye on the past, you are blind in one eye but if you forget the past, you are blind in both of your eyes." Similar proverb. | |
| Mar 22, 2014 at 15:56 | answer | added | ajbauerlein | timeline score: -2 | |
| Mar 22, 2014 at 15:38 | answer | added | Gareth Rees | timeline score: 2 | |
| Mar 20, 2014 at 21:16 | comment | added | Oldcat | You'd think if it were Janus, you'd be keeping 2 eyes in each direction. To me 'keep an eye on X' is a common enough phrase that extending it to using one for the past and one for the future is simple enough to come up with without needing to steal it from a common source. | |
| Mar 20, 2014 at 21:04 | comment | added | Leon Conrad | WThe allusion is probably to Janus, Greek god of the new year, 2-faced, one half looking to the past, one to the future. January's named after him. As for the saying itself, I've no idea. Have you looked in Brewer, Bartelby or another reference book of phrases? | |
| Mar 20, 2014 at 20:33 | history | asked | 719016 | CC BY-SA 3.0 |