Where did this expression come from? I did a search on google for “cockeyed finn”, “cock-eyed finn”, “cock-eyed fin” and “cockeyed fin”. Only one page that had the (last) phrase in a song called Barnacle Bill the Pilot.
I’ll be a cockeyed Finn if I can figure out where this expression comes from!
Just a guess here: “Cockeyed” can mean crazy and “crazy Finn” is a pretty common expression, especially (IIRC) among old-time Swedes. (Swedes are also inclined to make jokes about stupid Norwegians). “Crazy Finn” perhaps comes from the fact that Finns are so very different in language and customs from their neighbors. In the old Scandinavian folk tales I’ve read, Finns are often portrayed as untrustworthy, if not exactly crazy. The term “crazy Finn” is so common that it has given a name to a cocktail.
Zombie! (Appropriate, since my mother’s Finnish husband died a couple of years after I asked the question.)
South Pacific was on the other day, and A Cockeyed Optimist is one of the songs in it. Naturally, the phrase has lodged itself in me brain.
bibliophage’s guess sounds plausible. I’ve been in Sweden, and I’ve seen how they make Norwegian jokes. Why not poke fun at the Finns as well? (OK, now I’m picturing Swedish doctor Stig Helmer ranting against Denmark in Lars von Trier’s The Kingdom.)
Do Finns consider ‘cockeyed Finn’ to be disparaging? On one hand, it’s insulting on its face. On the other hand, some people take pride in being ‘crazy’.
What is the actual meaning of ‘cockeyed’ in this context? Is it, as bibliophage suggests, ‘crazy’? Or does it just mean that the person has a different outlook?
Unfortunately your guess is wrong. However hard I try I can’t come up with anything that could be what you’re thinking of.