The phrase hairy eyeball

Posted by marina on September 25, 2002 at

hi there,

I never thought anything about this until recently - at work we hired a great guy from the uk. I used the phrase, "i'll give that the ol' hairy eyeball this weekend" on him and he looked at me as if I had antenna coming out my head! I explained it to him as best I could - but the more I tried to explain it, the more I realized I didn't really know much about the phrase. can anybody shed any light as to its origins and different meanings through the ages? as now I am curious! thanks! please email me although I will keep checking back as often as I can! thanks!

• Hairy eyeball ESC 09/26/02