目を盗む

The expression '目を盗む' (me o nusumu) literally translates to 'to steal eyes.' In Japanese, '目' (me) refers to 'eyes,' and '盗む' (nusumu) means 'to steal.' The concept behind this idiom is that by performing an action 'stealing' or 'diverting' someone's attention (their 'eyes'), one can carry out an activity without being noticed. It implies a sense of stealth and discretion. While the exact origin date of this specific phrasing is difficult to pinpoint, the underlying linguistic structure and the cultural understanding of 'eyes' as representing observation and attention have been present in Japanese for a long time. Expressions involving '目' are common in Japanese to convey various states of observation, attention, or perception. For example, '目を光らせる' (me o hikaraseru - to keep a watchful eye) or '目を配る' (me o kubaru - to keep an eye on things, to look around). Thus, '目を盗む' likely emerged as a natural and vivid way to describe the act of evading observation, leveraging the metaphorical understanding of 'stealing' the gaze or attention of another person to perform an action surreptitiously.