Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
cross-eyed
English answer:
not seeing things clearly/straight, (muddled/bewildered)
Added to glossary by
Yvonne Gallagher
Oct 10, 2013 21:46
10 yrs ago
English term
cross-eyed
English
Art/Literary
Idioms / Maxims / Sayings
Meyer [Lansky] was getting old. He was nearly eighty. […] His old buddy and
closest friend Sam Cohen was getting old too. That was the reason for
Alvin Malnik, a clever lawyer in his late forties, who knew how to grease
and when. He also knew how to count. Meyer still called the big shots.
But Alvin was being groomed. He’d wheeled and dealed the Teamster
pension fund for so many loans that Jimmy Hoffa was cross-eyed when
they stuffed him in a barrel.
This is a passage from a book about the Abscam sting. Hoffa is mentioned only once with no further context. I assume that the barrel is an allusion to Hoffa’s death, but why he was cross-eyed?
closest friend Sam Cohen was getting old too. That was the reason for
Alvin Malnik, a clever lawyer in his late forties, who knew how to grease
and when. He also knew how to count. Meyer still called the big shots.
But Alvin was being groomed. He’d wheeled and dealed the Teamster
pension fund for so many loans that Jimmy Hoffa was cross-eyed when
they stuffed him in a barrel.
This is a passage from a book about the Abscam sting. Hoffa is mentioned only once with no further context. I assume that the barrel is an allusion to Hoffa’s death, but why he was cross-eyed?
Change log
Oct 14, 2013 22:11: Yvonne Gallagher Created KOG entry
Responses
+7
2 hrs
Yvonne Gallagher
Ireland
Ireland
Native in English
&
English
Ireland
right word, right place. everytime
Native in: English (Variants: US, Canadian, Irish, UK) 
Works in: French to English, Spanish to English, English, and 1 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
56
Selected
not seeing things clearly/straight, (muddled/bewildered)
it's used in a metaphorical sense here. Hoffa was so busy trying to follow what Alvin was doing with the wheeling and dealing that it was like he was cross-eyed looking in all directions but really not able to keep up or follow it seems. The implication is that perhaps he was bewildered or bedazzled by Alvin's sharp dealing
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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-10-11 00:06:50 GMT)
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people sometimes say they are "cross-eyed with tiredness" i.e. that they just can't see things clearly and it's like their eyes are looking in opposite directions. Or "cross-eyed" trying to follow directions. There is usually a sense of confusion
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Note added at 4 days (2013-10-14 22:11:44 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped
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Note added at 2 hrs (2013-10-11 00:06:50 GMT)
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people sometimes say they are "cross-eyed with tiredness" i.e. that they just can't see things clearly and it's like their eyes are looking in opposite directions. Or "cross-eyed" trying to follow directions. There is usually a sense of confusion
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Note added at 4 days (2013-10-14 22:11:44 GMT) Post-grading
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glad to have helped
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
AllegroTrans
14 mins
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Thanks AT:-)
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| agree |
Jean-Claude Gouin
: J'aime bien votre traductiion et vos explications ...
54 mins
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merci bien 1045!
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| agree |
Tina Vonhof (X)
2 hrs
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Thanks Tina!
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| agree |
Phong Le
4 hrs
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Thanks Phong!
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| agree |
Terry Richards
7 hrs
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Thanks Terry!
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| agree |
B D Finch
8 hrs
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Thanks B!
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| agree |
Anna Herbst
1 day 50 mins
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Thanks Anna!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thank you!"
Discussion