"one in the eye"

Posted by Bruce Kahl on February 22, 2006

In Reply to: "One in the eye" posted by RRC on February 21, 2006

: : Has anyone heard of the saying "one in the eye".....if so, do you know its origin..my wife tells me I've got it wrong and its "put in the eye" !

: Could you use it in a complete sentence? I'm having a hard time imagining a sentence in which I could replace "one" with "put" and have it make sense (but I'm sure someone will come up with one since I said that ;-) ). RRC

A poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Be one in the eye for someone (British & Australian, informal)
If something that someone does is one in the eye for someone else, it will annoy that person because they did not want it to happen or did not think it could happen.

"When I got my degree, I thought, 'That's one in the eye for my old head teacher, who said I would never get anywhere."

I love eye idioms:

an eye for an eye
be all eyes
close one's eyes to something
give someone the eye
have an eye to something
have eyes for someone
have one's eye on something
in one's mind's eye
in the eyes of someone
keep one's eyes peeled
more than meets the eye
my eye!
see eye to eye with someone
under the eye of someone
with one's eyes open
And then Mr. K's Eyes Wide Shut.

• "One in the eye" Brian from Shawnee 22/February/06
  • "One in the eye" Smokey Stover 22/February/06
    • "One in the eye" Steve E 23/February/06