shut one's eyes and think of England

English

Verb

shut one's eyes and think of England (third-person singular simple present shuts one's eyes and thinks of England, present participle shutting one's eyes and thinking of England, simple past and past participle shut one's eyes and thought of England)

1. (idiomatic, euphemistic) Alternative form of close one's eyes and think of England: to accept unwanted sex due to social pressures.
   • 1982, Sylvia Theresa Haymon, Ritual Murder, page 136:

     Once she got going on the subject of that poor mutt's performance—or, more properly, lack of it—there was no stopping her. I hardly knew where to put my face, let alone various other portions of my anatomy. It was what you might call an illustrated lecture, see? Everything but the magic lantern slides. In the end I just shut my eyes and thought of England.