/aˈvere i paraˈɔkki/ lit. ‘to have the blinkers on’
Italian idiom, everyday. Someone who only knows their own small world and thinks it’s everything.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Italian speaker.
How do people use Avere i paraocchi
?
Everyday Italian for someone with a narrow view who won’t look beyond it. It goes with avere, mettersi or portare (“sembra portare i paraocchi”), and paraocchi doesn’t change between singular and plural, so “i paraocchi” is usual even for one pair. It’s a criticism, often aimed at someone’s opinions or politics.
Also said mettersi i paraocchi, portare i paraocchi
Avere i paraocchi
in real sentences
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La sua visione del mondo è talmente ristretta che sembra portare i paraocchi.
His view of the world is so narrow that he seems to be wearing blinkers.
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Alcune persone affrontano la vita come se avessero i paraocchi, ignorando tutto ciò che non rientra nella loro visione limitata.
Some people go through life as if they had blinkers on, ignoring everything that doesn’t fit into their limited view.
Tatoeba, sentence by Guybrush88, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Avere i paraocchi
come from?
Paraocchi are the leather flaps fixed to a horse’s bridle beside each eye, which Treccani says are there to keep the horse from shying. Treccani quotes Giovanni Pascoli using the word figuratively (“non mettete i parocchi al vostro intelletto”), so the image was in literary use by around 1900. It’s the same picture as English “blinkers” or “blinders”, and we found no earliest date for the Italian phrase.
Mistakes learners make with Avere i paraocchi
Mixing it up with “avere il prosciutto sugli occhi”. The ham over your eyes means you miss something right in front of you; the blinkers mean you never look sideways at anything outside your own patch.
Other Italian idioms like Avere i paraocchi
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