phrases, sayings, idioms and expressions at

Seeing eye to eye

Posted by Michael on November 01, 2001

In Reply to: Seeing eye to eye posted by masakim on October 23, 2001

: : : What does 'Seeing eye to eye " mean?
: : : Thanks.

: : : Wilfried

: : From the Oxford English Dictionary:
: : "To see eye to eye" (Isa. lii. 8): often misused for to be of one mind, think alike."

: : The Biblical verse that the OED refers to (King James version):
: : "Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with the voice together shall they sing: for they shall see eye to eye, when the LORD shall bring again Zion."

: : So it doesn't properly mean being of one mind. Maybe somebody else knows what it does mean.

: In the Bible (Isaiah 52:8), "eye to eye," is used in the sense of "face to face; with one's own eyes."

: Listen! Your watchmen lift up their voices, They shout joyfully together; For they will see with their own eyes When the LORD restores Zion. (New American Standard Bible)

: The watchmen shout and sing with joy, for before their very eyes they see the LORD bringing his people home to Jerusalem. (New Living Translation)

:
: It is now very "often misused for to be of one mind, think alike":

: The Communist and the Socialist will not see eye to eye with Dr. Inge; nor will anyone of any colour who attempts to enslave the individual to the State. (_Time Literary Supplement_, Oct 29, 1938)

: He wished to affirm the solidaity of the Axis and to dispel the rumours that he and the Duce did not see eye to eye in regard to foreign policy. (_Spectator_, June 1939)

How about this as a possibility? Seeing eye to eye may mean that you are on the same level as opposed to being of one mind. What I am trying to say is that when I was teaching, I would crouch down to eye level with the child in order to form a less aggressive position (unless of course, the situation dictated otherwise). Just a thought.

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