Tonight the weather forecaster warned about an impending nor'easter for Wednesday but assuaged our fears by saying he was "keeping a close eye" on the situation.

The question is: What is a "close eye"? Can you use it for an abstraction like a possible storm, or must it only be used for something tangible and touchable?

I can "close" my eye, but then I couldn't tell when the storm was near. I can wait with "closed" eye, with the same result.

Should I want to examine something I can get "close up" to it but how do you do that with a storm? If I'm tracking it on radar, why do I need to put my eye directly up "close" to the screen, when it is perfectly readable from normal distances?

Why don't people say "I'll watch it closely" instead of "I'll keep a close eye on it."? And why can't you use both eyes, if it is so necessary to keep track of the storm? Is there some point where a close eye is too close? Would a person with a glass eye have an advantage at that point since they could actually touch whatever they are keeping tabs on? Conversely, can a person with glasses be at a disadvantage since they frames preent them from getting close enough to keep a close eye? Is this merely a marketing ploy on behalf of contact makers?

Isn't there some danger involved in keeping aclose eye on the wrong things? For example, would you really keep a close eye on a spinning drill? Or a welding torch? You could go blind scoring a close dart game. If you are keeping a close eye on a dart game in a pub, can you also keep a close eye on your beer, or must one suffer at the expense of the other? Richrd English may be able to offer an opinion on that one. If not, case closed.

Case of beer? I'll keep a close eye on this thread while keeping my nose to the grindstone and my shoulder to the wheel, and maybe even my ass in a sling.

Interesting question, proof. I wondered, too, why it was just one eye. In looking it up in Etymology.com, I found this: "Until late 14c. the plural was in -an, hence modern dialectal plural een, ene," so I thought that plural situation could be the reason, though I doubt it since it goes way back to the 14th century.

It's simply idiomatic and, like so much idiom, is best not anaylised to carefully.

Well, time marches on and I must keep a weather eye on the pub door so I can nip over the frog when they open and splice the mainbrace with a glass of pig's.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Richard English,

you may have to belly up to keep a close eye on that grog