Out of sight, out of mind

Welcome to another edition of SoundCzech - Radio Prague's Czech language series in which you can learn useful phrases through song lyrics. Today's song is by a well-known group called Chinaski.

The song is one we have heard before called Jsem dobrák od kosti - "I'm a good guy" and here's the phrase we're going to focus on today:

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Sejde z očí, sejde z mysli - literally means out of sight, out of mind. It's a centuries old saying that probably exists in most languages of the world -based on the observation that something is easily forgotten or dismissed as unimportant if it is not in our direct view. Well, I think that those of us who occasionally diet would find that debatable. Try not thinking about what's in the fridge - but with due respect to a centuries old saying - listen to the phrase once again:

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The phrase can be used about anything that people are obsessed with at a given time - and in this particular case it is said with reference to a man. "Out of sight, out of mind, only fools believe in nonsense. Love is a wizard and silence is a balm" the girl sings. Another saying that revolves around love and what one can see is - "co oči nevidí, to srdce nebolí" which again must be fairly widespread and literally means "what the eyes don't see, the heart does not suffer for". But let us go back to the original saying - "out of sight, out of mind". Have another listen:

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And - if you have now mastered "sejde z očí, sejde z mysli," let me just point out another simple phrase that might come in handy - and that also relates to your eyes -or sight. "Mít velké oči" literally means "to have big eyes" the equivalent of the English saying "my eyes are bigger than my belly". Someone who is not able to finish their meal after taking a huge second helping will say "měla jsem velké oči". So if you are prone to being "big-eyed" at meal times remember "out of sight, out of mind" - or so they say. Until next time - nashledanou!