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Bunny Trails: A Word History Podcast
Episode 165: Keep an Eye Out / On / Open
Record Date: August 28, 2022
Air Date: September 7, 2022
Intro
Shauna:
Welcome to Bunny Trails, a whimsical adventure of idioms and other turns of phrase.
I’m Shauna Harrison
Dan:
And I’m Dan Pugh
Each week we take an idiom or other turn of phrase and try to tell the story from its entry into the English language, to how it’s used today.
Opening Hook
I started looking into this week’s phrase and quickly discovered it has a slightly different earlier version, and then found that one had a slightly different earlier version, and then realized all of the versions are used today and used interchangeably. And then suddenly I was confused about what I was doing and wrote three other episodes before I came back to it. So now, finally, we will look at Keep an Eye Out… or On… or Over.
Meaning
Let’s start with the earliest one, then we’ll add the others as they start to be used. And for that, we need to start with To Keep an Eye On. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, to keep an eye on means:
Quote
to keep watch upon, to observe carefully, esp. either to provide care and support or because of suspicion or mistrust; to be wary of
End Quote
Shauna - any ideas when this one started?
Well, the first time we see something like it is in the early 12 hundreds. The OED has the first attestation with Seinte Katerine (ed. Simonne Rosalie Thérèse Odile d'Ardenne and Eric John Dobson) somewhere between 1200 and 1225. Alas, I am not a middle english linguist, so I am going to trust the OED that it says what they think it says.
“Euer ha hefde on hali writ ehnen oðer heorte”
Here’s an example I can pronounce, from roughly 1398 in Bartholomaeus Anglicus’ On the properties of things.
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A seruaunt..haþ ȝe and hond apon his lord to do what likeþ and plesiþ his lorde. - A servant has eye and hand upon his lord to do what likes and pleases his lorde
End Quote
And another example from around 1450 in A royal historie of the excellent knight Generides (ed. Frederick James Furnivall) · Roxburghe Club edition, 1865 (1 vol.). (Roxburghe Club 85). (Pierpont Morgan) (1865) l. 3934 (MED)
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Segryne had euer on him his eye.
End Quote
And here’s one more, this from 1641 in:
Quote
End Quote
1648
Quote
End Quote
During this time, the early to mid 1600s, we also saw TO KEEP AN EYE OPEN start to be used. This has a similar meaning, to be watchful or observant (for).
Here’s an example from 1651 out of the Hermeticall Banquet:
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'Tis necessary that you keep an Eye open upon the Stomaticall Magazin, and see that Memory forget not her self to charge all the Lady Sences to be vigilant in this action.
End Quote
And another from the same time frame, 1654 in John Trapp’s A commentary, or, exposition upon the XII. minor prophets · 1st edition, 1654 (1 vol.). (Hosea xiv. 8) 181
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God hath a quick ear in such a case; He hath also an eye open to the supplications of his servants, in all that they call upon him for.
End Quote
In the mid 1700s we started to see the phrase I began researching with, to keep an eye out. This variant was chiefly used in the United States originally, but now it can be found throughout most of the English speaking world. As with the others, it means to be very alert or watchful.
The first example I found is from the book, An Universal History, from the Earliest Account of Time, Volume 7 published in 1747.
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End Quote
Here’s one from an 1897 Dictionary:
Quote
End Quote
In the mid 1800s, we see the variant, keep your eye on the ball start to take hold, specifically in relation to sports. We won’t go into detail here because we’ve already covered that portion in episode 108 from April 2021. You can find that on bunnytrailspod.com or wherever you get your podcasts.
One other phrase I ran into while researching is to keep your eyes skinned, which is similar to keep your eyes peeled and now I hate both of those phrases. We’ll talk a little about them in the Behind the Scenes video, available to Patrons at patron.com/bunnytrailspod.
So to recap what we’ve talked about: This phrase started in the 1200s as keep an eye on, then morphed in the 1600s to keep an eye open, in the 1700s spurred keep an eye out, and in the mid 1850s, keep your eye on the ball, all of which are still used today. And speaking of today, let’s talk about our modern uses right after we say a quick thanks to our sponsors.
A Quick Thank You
Shauna:
This episode is sponsored by our amazing Patrons on Patreon.
You can help support this educational artform and get awesome perks along the way! Tiers start at $3 a month, which get you our polls and community-only discussions, early access to the podcast, and the behind the scenes video for each episode so you can watch along as we make the show.
At $10 you’ll also get original digital artwork from Shauna once a month featuring exclusive art about an idiom or other turn of phrase. At $15, you’ll also get personal on-air recognition like Pat Rowe does every episode. And of course huge thanks goes to the top spot among our Patrons, our Dean of Learning, Mary Halsig-Lopez. Thank you so much to Mary and all of our patrons.
If you want to help create Bunny Trails week after week, whatever your budget, we are bunnytrailspod on Patreon.
That’s patreon.com/bunnytrailspod
Modern Uses
1970 Song
Let’s kick off the modern uses with a song by Diana Ross called Keep an Eye. It is from her 1970 self-titled album. The song is from the perspective of a woman who has lost her lover to a friend. It opens:
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Keep an eye
Keep an eye
Keep an eye
On your close friend
End Quote
https://genius.com/Diana-ross-keep-an-eye-lyrics
2011 Book
This next one is a book by Julian Barnes, Keeping an Eye Open, with the tag Essays on Art. Here is the synopsis from Goodreads:
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'Flaubert believed that it was impossible to explain one art form in terms of another, and that great paintings required no words of explanation. Braque thought the ideal state would be reached when we said nothing at all in front of a painting. But we are very far from reaching that state. We remain incorrigibly verbal creatures who love to explain things, to form opinions, to argue... It is a rare picture which stuns, or argues, us into silence. And if one does, it is only a short time before we want to explain and understand the very silence into which we have been plunged.'
Julian Barnes began writing about art with a chapter on Géricault's The Raft of the Medusa in his 1989 novel A History of the World in 10½ Chapters. Since then he has written a series of remarkable essays , chiefly about French artists, for a variety of journals and magazines. Gathering them for this book, he realised that he had unwittingly been retracing the story of how art made its way from Romanticism to Realism and into Modernism.
End Quote
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/22709886-keeping-an-eye-open
2018 Movie
Keep an Eye Out is a 2018 film from Director Quentin Dupieux. It is a French language dark comedy. Here’s the synopsis from IMDB.com
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Louis just found the corpse of a man in front of his apartment building. Taken in for custody by Captain Buron, he finds himself on the wrong end of a surreal interrogation. But how can you prove you are innocent when the cops are crazy?
End Quote
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7156222/
2019 Book
On to 2019 we have a children’s book called Keep an Eye on Ivy, but mononymous author Barroux Here’s the synopsis from Goodreads:
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Sometimes we are lucky enough to receive a gift that exceeds all the rest and Ivy is one of those gifts! Ivy is a plant, but not just any a plant, an exotic one that needs care and attention every day. Hopefully, on Monday when the family is away, our sister can take care of Ivy. On Tuesday, our sister has disappeared, and our grandfather takes care of Ivy. On Wednesday, when our sister and grandfather have both disappeared, our grandmother takes care of Ivy. Day after day, Ivy grows bigger and bigger, while the house becomes more and more empty . . .
From internationally renowned author Barroux comes a beautifully illustrated book that will captivate young readers. A book filled with humor and twists that will keep children guessing until the surprise pop-up at the end!
End Quote
https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/51482487
2021 Art Book
And we’ll close it out with a switch on the phrase, the 2021 art book, Keep an Eye Shut, by Hanayo. Torch Press, the publisher, calls it a comprehensive compilation of works illustrating the photographer’s career spanning across a thirty-year period from her debut. Here is their synopsis:
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Hanayo employs a diverse array of different forms of expression – the word “photographer” is inadequate in describing her many talents. As an artist and woman, she has bravely sailed forth through different eras in her own, unique style – she has a distinctive career and body of work. Just who is Hanayo? Keep an Eye Shut compiles photographs from her vast body of work. In a way, the volume seems to symbolize the life of the photographer herself, while also acting as a mirror of the era – revealing to us the beauty, or the ephemerality, of the world.
End Quote
https://www.torchpress.net/en/product/3240/
If you aren’t familiar with Hanayo, the publisher has a little background on her:
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Hanayo is an artist based in Tokyo and Berlin with various guises as a photographer, geisha, musician, and model. She works with installations that combine photos or collages that depict the mundane with surreal colors with music and objects. Hanayo has hosted numerous solo and group exhibitions worldwide, including Palais de Tokyo (Paris). Selected works include photobooks Hanayome (1996), MAGMA (2004) and berlin (2013), Tenko (2016), and music albums Gift, wooden veil, among others.
End Quote
Wrap Up
You can see by the variety of cultural works the concept of being vigilant by keeping an eye on, out for, or open to something is still alive and well today.
Dan:
That’s about all we have for today. If you have any thoughts on the show, or pop culture references we should have included, reach out to us on social media where we are @bunnytrailspod, or comment on our website bunnytrailspod.com
Shauna:
You may have heard the phrase "twilight years". According to Cambridge Dictionary, it means "the last years of someone's life". It may also be used to mean years after you no longer work for a living, known in many parts of the world as retirement.
And that phrase is what led to our poll for this week.
What is your ideal "twilight years" setting?
60% of our Patrons said they’ll want to travel and do a little bit of a lot of different stuff.
It was an even split for living a quiet life in a small town, 20%, as well as something in the range of tropical, 20%.
I love Pat Rowe’s take on it:
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I plan to continue building businesses and use my abilities and intellect in that way--not going to learn how to play bridge! Most importantly, as names come to me, I am attempting to contact everyone I know or have known through the years. Where are they now?
End Quote
Dan:
That’s so insightful. Pat has a kind heart and is such a sweet person, always thinking of other people. When it comes my time to enjoy what I have left, I think I'd like it to be in a small seaside town. Perhaps somewhere the temps don't get below 15C (60F). I want to smell the ocean, walk for most of my daily needs, and never feel cold again.
I also like Jan’s comment:
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All but the rural as that's the life I'm currently living (not that there's anything wrong with it). I love to travel, love the beach, mountains... Big city would be cool, too, London or Chicago. Just walk down the block to the grocery store or anything else you'd need.
End Quote
Shauna:
As a reminder, our silly polls mean absolutely nothing and are not scientifically valid. But Patrons of all levels get to take part. Head over to patreon.com/bunnytrailspod to take this week’s poll!
Outro
Shauna:
Thanks for joining us. We’ll talk to you again next week. Until then remember,
Together:
Words belong to their users.
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