E. Cobham Brewer 1810–1897. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898.
Sand-blind.
Virtually blind, but not wholly so, what the French call ber-lue; our par-blind. (Old English suffix sam, half; or Old High German sand, virtually.) It is only fit for a Launcelot Gobbo to derive it from sand, a sort of earth.
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“This is my true-begotten father, who, being more than sand-blind, high-gravel blind, knows me not.”—Shakespeare: Merchant of Venice, ii. 2.
