british english - 'to blind someone with science' -- Not known or rare in the US?


This definition states (my emphasis)



blind with science (British & Australian)
if you blind someone with science, you confuse them by using technical language that they are not likely to understand I think he decided to blind us with science because he didn't want us asking any difficult questions.


theFreeDictionary



This expression is so commonly used and widely known in Britain where I live that I was surprised that it is described in the definition as being limited to certain areas.


Is it really the case that this phrase is unfamiliar to, say, US English speakers?



Answer



The expression appears to be mainly a British one; according to Ngram the only evidence of its usage is in BrE. Its origin predates the 1982 song which probably made the expression more popular. Here is an earlier example from 1947:


From: Failure of the Left, A Plea for a New Liberalism (1947)




  • ... he is dreaming in terms of classes and class exploitation : his references to the mundane world are merely there to blind with science the proselyte who will not take his religion without evidence of a sort. When one contemplates the actual ...



According to The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English the expression "blind with science" first appeared in 1937 in Australia and in 1943 in UK.


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