wandering eye

[birdeen's call]

I remember seeing or hearing the phrase used to refer to a person who is sexually interested in people other than their partner; they were said to have a wandering eye. I've looked for it in the dictionary now and it seems there is no such idiom!

I can see "a roving eye" is there, but I know it only from an Ossian song (Ma Rovin' Eye, a nice song by the way). Is it really so that native speakers use "a roving eye" and don't use "a wandering eye"? I thought the verb "to rove" was used mostly by the Irish and the Scottish...

 

[JMurray]

Hi bc.
I have many times heard the term "roving eye" used to mean a tendency to look around for possible conquests, particularly when the looker is already in a relationship. I have heard "wandering eye" used only very rarely with this meaning. However, when I was young I knew someone who had a medical condition which caused one of their eyes to not direct itself properly towards wherever the person was looking. He was often said to have a "wandering eye" and I believe this is still an informal term for this condition.


Not a teacher.

 

[birdeen's call]

Thanks!

 

[Raymott]

I've looked for it in the dictionary now and it seems there is no such idiom!

I wouldn't have expected a statement of such naivety coming from you, BC!

 

[birdeen's call]

I wouldn't have expected a statement of such naivety coming from you, BC!

I must admit it was not a weighed statement!

Which one of the two would you use?

 

[bhaisahab]

I must admit it was not a weighed statement!

Which one of the two would you use?

"Roving eye", "wandering hands".;-)

 

[SoothingDave]

Americans would not say "roving." Wandering eye is acceptable.

 

[Raymott]

I must admit it was not a weighed statement!

Which one of the two would you use?

They're both OK. Also "straying eye". I like the word "ogling".
Wandering Eye Tips - Wandering Eye Syndrome » Wandering Eye Tips

 

[birdeen's call]

I like the word "ogling".

I do too! It sounds like what it means.

 

[JMurray]

I like the word "ogling".

I like the word "ogling" too, and to be honest, I may have ogled. Perhaps a "roving eye" does imply more strongly a pattern of behaviour with a tendency to act, post-ogle.

Not a teacher.

 

[SoothingDave]

Yes. Anyone can ogle. Doesn't mean they will wander.

 

[BobK]

...
I can see "a roving eye" is there, but I know it only from an Ossian song (Ma Rovin' Eye, a nice song by the way). Is it really so that native speakers use "a roving eye" and don't use "a wandering eye"? I thought the verb "to rove" was used mostly by the Irish and the Scottish...

Maybe the word is now favoured by 'the Celtic fringe', but Irish and Scots aren't the only ones. 'In Plymouth town there lived a maid...A-rovin' a-rovin', since rovin's been my ruin /I'll go no more a rovin' with you fair maid'. I don't know where that song comes from, but I suppose it could be Plymouth - which is in the extreme south-west of England.

But it's commonly used in literature (though maybe without the sexual connotations...?) Having said that, I doubt whether Lord Byron's 'I'll go no more a roving' referred to entirely chaste excursions!

(Ogling is quite indiscreet. You can have a roving eye without ogling the people you regard as attractive. Ogling tends to be accompanied - in cartoons - by the ogler's tongue hanging out and his eyes on stalks.)

b

 

[birdeen's call]

Maybe the word is now favoured by 'the Celtic fringe', but Irish and Scots aren't the only ones. 'In Plymouth town there lived a maid...A-rovin' a-rovin', since rovin's been my ruin /I'll go no more a rovin' with you fair maid'. I don't know where that song comes from, but I suppose it could be Plymouth - which is in the extreme south-west of England.

But it's commonly used in literature (though maybe without the sexual connotations...?) Having said that, I doubt whether Lord Byron's 'I'll go no more a roving' referred to entirely chaste excursions!

"No more a-rovin'"? Wow, I know this line, it's from song The Jolly Beggar! And I thought it was an Irish song... Good to know!

 

[bhaisahab]

"No more a-rovin'"? Wow, I know this line, it's from song The Jolly Beggar! And I thought it was an Irish song... Good to know!

Birdeen, maith cailin hein (good woman yourself), there is a long history of traditional songs traded between England, Scotland and Ireland with changes of lyrics and sometimes of tunes.

 

[bhaisahab]

"No more a-rovin'"? Wow, I know this line, it's from song The Jolly Beggar! And I thought it was an Irish song... Good to know!

Thank you for that link, by the way, it was good to see Planxty again, especially with Christy Moore.

 

[birdeen's call]

Thank you for that link, by the way, it was good to see Planxty again, especially with Christy Moore.

And it's good to see there are still people around who understand good music. ;-)

 

[BobK]

Birdeen, maith cailin hein (good woman yourself), there is a long history of traditional songs traded between England, Scotland and Ireland with changes of lyrics and sometimes of tunes.

:up: ...And I wouldn't put it past Byron to have 'borrowed' an Irish song without attributing it.

I've remembered another song with 'roving eye' in it. I first heard it song by Tommy Makem, but I'm sure it's traditional: The Boys Won't Leave the Girls Alone - in which someone who's name I forget 'swears she'll die/ If she doesn't get the feller with the rovin' eye'.

b

PS - This is the recording I remember: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RpqE_BehuvI&feature=related

 

[birdeen's call]

:up: ...And I wouldn't put it past Byron to have 'borrowed' an Irish song without attributing it.

They say he did and that it's a Scottish song here.

 

[BobK]

They say he did and that it's a Scottish song here.

Thanks. I wonder if he borrowed the line 'for the sword outwears the sheath'. Being well educated in the Classics, he can't have been oblivious to the pun (as some readers may wish to remain; others should consult a Latin dictionary. )

b

 

[birdeen's call]

Thanks. I wonder if he borrowed the line 'for the sword outwears the sheath'. Being well educated in the Classics, he can't have been oblivious to the pun (as some readers may wish to remain; others should consult a Latin dictionary. )

b

I tried to find a Latin phrase without success. (I tried "fatigat" for "outwears", not sure if that's right.) Google doesn't seem to know Latin inflexion, so it wouldn't help very much...