blind freddy
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.40 in modern English
22
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
2
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
name
An imaginary incapacitated person held up as an archetype of incapacity: what blind Freddy can see (understand) must be very obvious.
Australian usage; Informal
Example Sentences
- "“I thought you might have bet on Mart,” Angus said coldly. “Just for old times′ sake.” “Don't be Uncle Willy,” Jerry admonished him, mildly. “Old Blind Freddy could'a seen Mart was a gonner. Although I admit I had the wind up a couple′a times!” Angus felt the blood rise in his face."
- "Mr Cook said ‘Look, blind Freddy would know that was for scaffolding,’ and he said, ‘Yes, of course,’. He did not have to be told, blind Freddy would know it, anybody in the timber trade would know it."
- "Blind Freddy could have seen that Danny was being beaten pointless, but Laurie refused to shift him until the last quarter."
Etymology
The use of "Blind Freddy" meaning "anyone can see..." dates to at least 1907 Theories concerning actual persons called Blind Freddy include reference to: * A blind hawker called Freddy or Freddie who lived in Sydney in the 1920s. * A police officer, Sir Frederick William Pottinger, who was in charge of the Lachlan district. The success of bushranger Ben Hall in evading capture there in 1862 is claimed to have earned Pottinger the nickname "Blind Freddy". However, no contemporary evidence that Pottinger was so called exists. Various Australian individuals were known as "Blind Freddy" or "Blind Freddie" from at least 1902, in apparent reference to an actual physical infirmity