blind [OE] Blind, from a common Germanic stock, was used in Old English for ‘unable to see’ and in the metaphorical sense ‘refusing to see’, particularly of religion, and ‘unintelligent’. The sense of blinds that are hung on windows developed in the early 18th century, and Venetian blinds appear at the end of that century. To turn a blind eye to, where blind means ‘refusing to see’ is late 17th century. The -fold of blindfold [OE] derives from fell, ‘to knock or strike over’. The Old English word from which blindfold developed meant ‘to strike blind’. It was already appearing with -fold spellings in Middle English, and by the 16th century people stopped understanding the second part of blindfell and substituted the more familiar fold. Blimey [L19th] is a mild expletive, but its original unaltered form was blind me! or blame me! Gorblimey is an altered form of God blind me! See also buff.