“Eye-opener” is an English idiom used when someone is surprised by something important that changes their views. It refers to a figurative opening of one’s eyes and is often used in its adjectival form “open your eyes.” Idioms allow for colorful, conversational speech.
An “eye-opener” is an English idiom that is often used when someone is surprised by something they have just seen, heard or experienced. It is also often associated with an event so important that the person who experiences it has his views or opinions forever altered. The implication behind the idiom is that someone has been blind to a certain fact or theory, but has had their eyes opened to the truth. People often alter “open your eyes” to form “open your eyes,” which has a similar meaning but is used as an adjective instead of a noun.
In the English language, it is rare for a speaker to describe everything using the literal definition of the chosen words. Conversely, some phrases take on a meaning that is far from literal, but instead informed by popular usage in the culture. These phrases are known as idioms, which allow for speech that is both colorful and conversational. When people say something opens their eyes, it means it surprised them and changed their thinking.
As an example of how this phrase might be used in a sentence, imagine someone who has just watched a documentary about a particularly poor part of the world that they never knew existed. He might say, “That documentary was a real revelation to me.” The idea of the sentence is that the documentary has figuratively opened the person’s eyes to something new.
This phrase has a particular power, as it often refers to something that is beyond amazing. Indeed, something deserving of the use of this idiom is usually powerful enough as an experience to forever alter the person using the phrase. For example, imagine someone saying, “I’ve been blind to how some people are treated in this country, but his speech really opened my eyes.” The hint here is that the speaker was not only surprised by the new information, but perhaps even motivated to do something about it.
Some people use this idiom in its adjectival form, which is “to open your eyes.” Consider the line: “The way he behaved today was enlightening, and I’m not sure I can ever trust him again.” Like all idioms, there is a certain exaggeration inherent in this phrase, as an experience cannot literally open your eyes. This exaggeration is what helps give “eye-opening” its potency as an idiom.
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