Word of the day: boss-eyed
I sometimes think that I’ve led a rather sheltered life because from time to time I come across a word – usually a colloquialism – that I don’t know but my wife does. On reflection, I have come to the view that my deficiency is the result of my up-bringing by a single parent who was Italian so that, if the word is more likely to be spoken than written, I may not know it.
I know – you want an example; and I’m going to give you one. We recently saw an episode of the television comedy “The IT Crowd” which used the word ‘boss-eyed’. My wife knew what this meant, but I didn’t. She explained that it means ‘cross-eyed’ but she couldn’t explain to me the origin of this word.
I had to look it up in my copy of the much-used and ever-faithful “Brewer’s Dictionary Of Phrase And Fable”. It turns out that word originates from the field of archery. The straw to which the circular target is attached is called a ‘boss’ and, if one was a bad shot and hit the straw instead of the target, one was said to be ‘boss-eyed’.
So now you know. But did you know beforehand?
Now check out a clip from “The IT Crowd” that uses the word – it’s here.