| 释义 |
can't see beyond the end of one's nose can't see beyond the end of (one's) noseIs preoccupied with oneself and unable to notice or focus on anything else. Of course she's oblivious to the growing homeless population in our city—she can't see beyond the end of her nose.See also: beyond, end, nose, of, seecan't see beyond the end of one's noseAlso, can't see farther than the end of one's nose. Lack foresight, envisioning only immediate events or problems, as in Thomas hasn't hired an orchestra for the Christmas concert; he just can't see beyond the end of his nose . This expression originated as a French proverb that was frequently cited in English from about 1700 on. Alexander Pope used a similar expression in his Essay on Man (1734): "Onward still he goes, Yet ne'er looks forward further than his nose." See also: beyond, end, nose, of, seecan't see beyond the end of one's noseShortsighted, unable to grasp anything but the immediate problem or events. The term was a sixteenth-century French proverb cited by several English writers. It later appeared in one of La Fontaine’s fables, The Fox and the Goat, and in a couplet in Alexander Pope’s Essay on Man (1734): “Onward still he goes, Yet ne’er looks forward further than his nose.”See also: beyond, end, nose, of, see |