• mozingo@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      44
      ·
      3 months ago

      Yea, it comes from the verb form of cock, meaning to tilt, same word used when we cock a gun. So one eye is just tilted.

    • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      17
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      3 months ago

      A doctor would say you have amblyopia and a polite person would call it lazy eye. Cockeyed is a proper English word, but it’s kind of rude when you use it to describe a person and not an object.

      • theangryseal@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        10
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        3 months ago

        As a cockeyed person, it doesn’t bother me. People rarely say anything. Sometimes you can catch people being confused about which eye to look into but it’s brief.

        I did have a kid say to me one time, “Wow, your eyes are like, seriously crossed!” I acted surprised and said, “Seriously? Oh my god! Do you think other people notice?” She felt bad about it and said, “No! No! It’s just where I was standing. I doubt anyone ever seen it.” :p

        My eyes are nowhere near as bad as biggie’s though because my sweet mother got me surgery when I was 5 years old. I still thank her for it regularly.

        • Catoblepas@lemmy.blahaj.zone
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          4
          ·
          3 months ago

          That’s understandable, it’s definitely not on the level of like a racial slur or anything. But if my niece or nephew blurted that out about someone I’d want to put a stop to it pretty quickly, you know?

          And oh my god, that story about the kid is hilarious and adorable!

    • danc4498@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      6
      arrow-down
      10
      ·
      3 months ago

      Technically it’s “cock for eyes” or if they have glasses “cock four eyes”