We previously said that Italians really like to use food in their expressions, but what about body parts? For instance, the eyes are a big hit when trying to create metaphors or different expressions as well. 

You can easily hear conversations like “Luca is the light of my eyes!” “Oh Chiara, occhio! As soon as he gave you sweet eyes, you were lost,” or after an interview “Did you roll with your eye to his resume? It really jumped to my eye!” “I don’t know, I don’t really see this candidate with a good eye.” Wait, what?   

Let’s break some “eye” expressions down for you, so it might be easier to understand them next time you’ll find them. If we look at the first sentence, we see: “sei la luce dei miei occhi” or “you are the light of my eye” is simply the expression “you are the apple of my eye.” The apple traded for some light. “Occhio!” or literally “eye!” translates to “watch out!” and “to give someone sweet eyes” means to flirt with someone. Then, let’s move on to the interview conversation: “scorrere qualcosa con l’occhio” or  “to roll with an eye on something” means to quickly read a text; “mi è saltato all’occhio” or  “it jumped to my eye” means that it is something that attracts attention; and “non vedere qualcuno di buon occhio” or “to see someone with a bad eye” means that you dislike this someone. You probably would also use the expression “si caverebbero gli occhi” – “they would gauge each other’s eyes out.” I bet there is no need to explain this one. 

But the list is really endless! “Avere l’occhio bovino” or “to have cow eyes” or even “occhio da triglia” or “mullet’s eyes” means to be really stupid. “Occhio non vede cuore non duole” or “where the eyes don’t see the heart doesn’t hurt;” “gettare fumo negli occhi” or in the English version “to pull wool over one’s eyes;” and “a quattrocchi” or “at four eyes” meaning face to face between two people. “Ad occhi bassi” or “with low eyes” means that you are guilty of something; “alzare gli occhi al cielo” or “to raise your eyes to the sky” means that you are praying to whatever God is up there out of desperation; and “chiudere un occhio” or “to close one eye” means that you are going to let something go for this time. 

If someone says that what you are wearing is a “pugno in un occhio” or a “punch in the eye,” maybe you better go home and change. But if you have a “occhio di lince” or “lynx’s eye” maybe they will want you with them next time they are looking for their headphones in the house. 

However, two of my absolute favorites are: “lasciarci gli occhi” literally meaning “to leave the eyes” used when you see something that you really like but you either can’t have or can’t afford; and “costare un occhio della testa” literally meaning "to cost an eye from the head" but actually meaning “to cost an arm and a leg", as to say that it is really really really expensive. 

“Ad occhio e croce” – “at eye and cross” or to better express it “more or less” – these are some of the most common “eye” expressions used in Italian, but keep an eye out for other ones! You may have “mille occhi e mille orecchie” – “a thousand eyes and a thousand ears” – and know a few more phrases than I do!