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This definition states (with my added emphasis),

blind with science (British & Australian)
If you blind someone with science, you confuse them by using technical language that they are not likely to understand.

I think he decided to blind us with science because he didn't want us asking any difficult questions.

theFreeDictionary

This expression is so common in Britain, where I live, I was surprised it is defined as being limited to certain areas.

Is this phrase really so unfamiliar to, say, U. S. English speakers?

niamulbengali
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chasly - supports Monica
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    "She Blinded Me With Science" is the first thing I thought of upon reading this question. It's not a phrase I use in everyday speech (Californian English speaker) – herisson Oct 25 '15 at 11:00
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    I think this is true. I know the expression only from the Thomas Dolby song. – James McLeod Oct 25 '15 at 11:01
  • Interesting. I had never heard of the song. I looked it up and the singer is British! – chasly - supports Monica Oct 25 '15 at 11:07
  • Yes. Wikipedia says it was relatively more popular in the US than in the UK, for some reason. It seems quite likely that Dolby knew of the UK idiom. – herisson Oct 25 '15 at 11:16
  • I've heard it (the phrase, not the song), but I would not call it "familiar", and I would not necessarily apply that specific meaning. – Hot Licks Oct 25 '15 at 11:24
  • @HotLicks, I see. What other meaning might it have? To me it simply means to talk a lot of technical (or technical-sounding) jargon, usually to win an argument with someone who doesn't know the technical terms or maybe just doesn't have a very extensive vocabulary. E,g, "Don't try to blind me with science--I know more about this than you do and I'll call your bluff!" – chasly - supports Monica Oct 25 '15 at 11:29
  • @chaslyfromUK - To me it more implies (out of any context) an individual who uses pseudo-science to refute a scientific argument. But like I said, it's not really familiar to me. – Hot Licks Oct 25 '15 at 11:38
  • The other possible meaning I had was that the possibilities offered by science "blinded" someone to the moral questions relative to the subject. – Yeshe Oct 25 '15 at 15:26
  • @chaslyfromUK I know it from the song but never use it in speech. In the UK, I think this is a good answer for the post that your question is related to...but elsewhere... – michael_timofeev Oct 25 '15 at 16:04
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    Never heard of the song, "She blinded me with science"?! Now you'll be telling me that you've never heard of the Buggles, "Video killed the radio star" or Manfred Mann's "Blinded by the light" I guess, I must be showing my age. :) – Mari-Lou A Oct 25 '15 at 18:16

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While I have only ever heard it used in the above mentioned song I have been familiar with the phrase my whole life. A similar phrase that I have heard used is to "baffle'em with bullshit" which is an abbreviated version of

“If you can't dazzle them with brilliance, baffle them with bullshit.” ― W.C. Fields

Yeshe
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The expression appears to be mainly a British one; according to Ngram the only evidence of its usage is in BrE. Its origin predates the 1982 song which probably made the expression more popular. Here is an earlier example from 1947:

From: Failure of the Left, A Plea for a New Liberalism (1947)

  • ... he is dreaming in terms of classes and class exploitation : his references to the mundane world are merely there to blind with science the proselyte who will not take his religion without evidence of a sort. When one contemplates the actual ...

According to The Concise New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English the expression "blind with science" first appeared in 1937 in Australia and in 1943 in UK.

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Cary Grant as Ernie Mott quotes the phrase in 1944' "None but the Lonely Heart", the film based upon the 1943 novel of the same name.

user263826
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