Out of sight, out of mind means that when we don't see someone or something for a long time, we gradually forget about them. People say it about friends and exes they've lost touch with, but not only them. The saying is often applied to things too: putting sweets in a high cupboard or your phone in another room is also out of sight, out of mind, and then it sounds like advice rather than something sad.
When would you say out of sight, out of mind?
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out of sight, out of mind; it's (a case of) out of sight, out of mind
- After Max moved to Canada, we stopped calling each other. Out of sight, out of mind, I suppose.
- I put the biscuits in the top cupboard: out of sight, out of mind.
- My phone stays in another room while I study, and out of sight, out of mind really works.
What changed
First versionWe stopped talking after she changed jobs. Out of eyes, out of heart.
RevisionWe stopped talking after she changed jobs. Out of sight, out of mind.
Out of eyes, out of heart sounds like a word-for-word translation, and a native speaker won't recognise it as a saying. The English version has neither eyes nor heart: sight means what you can see, and mind means your thoughts and memory. So it's “out of view, out of your thoughts”.
The opposite idea is absence makes the heart grow fonder, meaning that love grows stronger when people are apart: We only see each other twice a year, but absence makes the heart grow fonder. English speakers happily use both and pick whichever fits the situation. Both are conversational; in an essay, write people tend to forget what they do not see regularly instead.
Your turn
I leave my phone in the hall while I study. ___, out of mind.
Show the answer
Out of sight — The phone is put away so you don't think about it, and the fixed form starts with Out of sight. Out of eyes is a literal translation, and there's no such saying in English.
Describe something you keep out of the way so that you think about it less. Name the thing and where you hide it.
I keep the chocolate on the top shelf behind the rice, because out of sight, out of mind.
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