he did not bat an eyelid
he showed no surprise
TRANSLATION
not bat an eyelid = nicht mit der Wimper zucken --- GOOGLE INDEX not bat an eyelid: approximately 2,000,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
Israeli navy ships, which continue to occupy and control Gaza's territorial water, regularly open fire on Palestinian fishing boats that stray beyond the limits of where Israel allows them to fish. Yet most of the children did NOT EVEN BAT AN EYELID at the gunfire.
(BBC News)
---
Nowadays, if the Williams sisters walked out on Wimbledon's courts clad in Lady Gaga-style attire (eight-inch platform trainers, perhaps, with a hat made from discarded tennis frames) NO ONE WOULD BAT AN EYELID.
(The Guardian, London)
(BBC News)
---
Nowadays, if the Williams sisters walked out on Wimbledon's courts clad in Lady Gaga-style attire (eight-inch platform trainers, perhaps, with a hat made from discarded tennis frames) NO ONE WOULD BAT AN EYELID.
(The Guardian, London)
Did you
know?
not bat an eyelid
idiom
- to not show any shock or surprise
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
---
The expression "not bat an eyelid" is a fitting expression for anyone interested in British stereotypes. In a comedy television series that ran in the UK for two seasons from 2000 to 2002, a man dressed as a criminal walks past two policemen while carrying a sign that says "robber." In an act of typical British nonchalance, the Bobbies show no emotion or surprise. In other words, they do not bat an eyelid.
The phrase stems from the simple idea that when someone is shocked or surprised, one of the first natural reactions is to blink, which can also be expressed as batting an eyelid, batting an eye or batting an eyelash. Since it is always used in a negative sense, the expression is then "not bat an eyelid" or "without batting an eyelid". The verb "to bat", as in "moving the eyelids," is an American variant of "bate", which in falconry referred to beating the wings impatiently and fluttering away from the perch.
The noun bat is perhaps better known as a wooden stick, like those used in cricket and baseball, or as the common name for a nocturnal flying animal that is often associated with vampires. This sense gives a couple of other interesting idioms:
- blind as a bat = completely blind or unable to see well (I'm blind as a bat without my glasses)
- like a bat out of hell = very fast or sudden (As soon as it started to thunder and lightning, we left like a bat out of hell)
---
SYNONYMS
he did not blink, he did not flinch
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"He did not bat an eyelid when he dropped his notes, he just continued talking."
idiom
- to not show any shock or surprise
(Cambridge Idioms Dictionary)
---
The expression "not bat an eyelid" is a fitting expression for anyone interested in British stereotypes. In a comedy television series that ran in the UK for two seasons from 2000 to 2002, a man dressed as a criminal walks past two policemen while carrying a sign that says "robber." In an act of typical British nonchalance, the Bobbies show no emotion or surprise. In other words, they do not bat an eyelid.
The phrase stems from the simple idea that when someone is shocked or surprised, one of the first natural reactions is to blink, which can also be expressed as batting an eyelid, batting an eye or batting an eyelash. Since it is always used in a negative sense, the expression is then "not bat an eyelid" or "without batting an eyelid". The verb "to bat", as in "moving the eyelids," is an American variant of "bate", which in falconry referred to beating the wings impatiently and fluttering away from the perch.
The noun bat is perhaps better known as a wooden stick, like those used in cricket and baseball, or as the common name for a nocturnal flying animal that is often associated with vampires. This sense gives a couple of other interesting idioms:
- blind as a bat = completely blind or unable to see well (I'm blind as a bat without my glasses)
- like a bat out of hell = very fast or sudden (As soon as it started to thunder and lightning, we left like a bat out of hell)
---
SYNONYMS
he did not blink, he did not flinch
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"He did not bat an eyelid when he dropped his notes, he just continued talking."
