English Language & Usage Asked on January 12, 2021
This definition states (with my added emphasis),
blind with science (British & Australian)
If you blind someone with science, you confuse them by
using technical language that they are not likely to understand.I think he decided to blind us with science because he didn’t want us
asking any difficult questions.
This expression is so common in Britain, where I live, I was surprised it is defined as being limited to certain areas.
Is this phrase really so unfamiliar to, say, U. S. English speakers?
The expression appears to be mainly a British one; according to Ngram the only evidence of its usage is in BrE. Its origin predates the 1982 song which probably made the expression more popular. Here is an earlier example from 1947:
From: Failure of the Left, A Plea for a New Liberalism (1947)
- ... he is dreaming in terms of classes and class exploitation : his references to the mundane world are merely there to blind with science the proselyte who will not take his religion without evidence of a sort. When one contemplates the actual ...
According to The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English the expression "blind with science" first appeared in 1937 in Australia and in 1943 in UK.
Correct answer by user66974 on January 12, 2021
While I have only ever heard it used in the above mentioned song I have been familiar with the phrase my whole life. A similar phrase that I have heard used is to "baffle'em with bullshit" which is an abbreviated version of
“If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” ― W.C. Fields
Answered by Yeshe on January 12, 2021
Cary Grant as Ernie Mott quotes the phrase in 1944' "None but the Lonely Heart", the film based upon the 1943 novel of the same name.
Answered by user263826 on January 12, 2021
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