Re: Hindsight is 20/20
Posted by S. Ryan on June
11, 2003 In Reply to: Re: Hindsight is 20/20 posted
by masakim on June 02, 2003
: : : : Am I saying it correctly?
: : : : What does it mean? and it's origin?
: : : : Thanks
: : : The saying sound right, although I don't think I've ever
heard it. It means that it's very easy to be wise/knowledgeable
after events have happened. The 20/20 is a way of medically recording
perfect vision.
If more women in these parts had hindsight, they wouldn't wear
tight pants...
may you have the hindsight to know where you've been, the foresight
to see where you're going and the insight to know when you're going
too far...
: : It's a common saying in the U.S. and you're exactly right about
its meaning. Here's a similar saying:
: : MONDAY-MORNING QUARTERBACK - "...The term refers to the after-the-fact
football spectator who 'knows' just how the quarterback could have
won the game of the past weekend, or win with a higher score. An
Americanism, the term originated about 1940 and soon was transferred
to other examples of twenty-twenty (20/20) hindsight. However, it
is interesting to note that the 1911 edition of Ambrose Bierce's
'The Devil's Dictionary' defined Monday as 'In Christian countries,
the day after the baseball games.'" "Southpaws & Sunday Punches
and other Sporting Expressions" by Christine Ammer (Penguin Books,
New York, 1993). Another source says the phrase dates back to 1932.
"Random House Historical Dictionary of American Slang, Volume 1,
H-O" by J.E. Lighter, Random House, New York, 1994.
: twenty-twenty or 20/20 adj: having the normal visual acuity of
the human eye that according to one common scale can distinguish
at a distance of 20 feet characters one-third inch in diameter
: From _Webster's Third New International Dictionary_
: ----------
: twenty-twenty vision n. [20C] perfect vision, in a fig. sense;
thus _twenty-twenty insight_, a fig. perfect understanding or appreciation
of what has already been seen. [ophthalmic jargon _20/20_, perfect
vision]
: From _Cassell's Dictionary of Slang_ (1998) by Jonathon Green
: ----------
: _A Streetcar Named Desire_: Tennessee William's [sic] prize-winning
drama remodelled for screen with 20-20 insighht by Director Elia
Kazan and unexcelled cast.... (_Saturday Review of Literature_,
September 22, 1951)
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