A NOD IS AS GOOD AS A WINK TO A BLIND HORSE, phr. (colloquial).—Said of a covert hint—an allusion not put into plain words.
1831. BUCKSTONE, Beggar Boy, i. 1. Jean (laughing). You understand him by that? Bart. To be sure I do! A NOD’S AS GOOD AS A WINK FOR A BLIND HORSE, you know, master.
1837. R. B. PEAKE, A Quarter to Nine, i. A NOD’S AS GOOD AS A WINK TO A BLIND HORSE.
1889. Evg. Standard, 25 June. A WINK WAS AS GOOD AS A NOD, and trainers and jockeys … easily gathered whether a particular horse was only out for an airing, &c.
1893. Nineteenth Century, July, 6. A NOD IS AS GOOD AS A WINK TO A BLIND HORSE; and there are certain understandings, in public as well as in private life, which it is better for all parties not to put into writing.
