"If she blinks, kill her" - wth?

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saw this in James Bond - Tomorrow Never Dies (it will also be in countless other Bond films, Die Hard, Mission Impossible type movies etc)

she blinked at least twice, and she wasn't killed.

An idiom.

In this case, "blink" meaning "to attempt any sudden motion which might be interpreted as an attempt at escape or insurrection."

Edit: I think they show her blinking (in the literal sense) as some dramatic device, although I don't know its name. It's kinda silly.

Last edited by CTBill on 07 Aug 2010, 7:48 pm, edited 1 time in total.

You're not supposed to take it literally, it just means kill her for the least little movement, probably as much to frighten her into keeping still as much as it is to tell the one with the gun to keep a very close eye on her and don't let her get away with anything.

so it's more, "if she moves, kill her"?

or "keep a close eye on her"?

That's an idiom too: Should I close one eye to watch her? Or should I place my eyeball immediately adjacent to her?

It is neither in the literal sense.

I believe that that would be an idiom.

Don't harm a hair on her head!!

What? My hair is alive ! ! GAARRRGGHHHH _ RUNN

Nooo, it's FOLLOWING ME

A lot of these sayings are exaggerations.

"If she blinks, kill her" = If she makes a move, kill her/if she tries to escape, kill her. It's more for the prisoner than to the guard, as though saying to the prisoner, if you dare try to pull anything on us, we'll hurt you so stay put.

"Keep a close eye" = watch carefully.

I find it's helpful to view a lot of these sayings as exaggerations with their meanings trumped up so they are driven into someone's mind...strangely enough, that method turns these sayings more sensible