你长眼睛了

[rexh]

Hi, I was messaging with a good friend and wasn't receiving any responses.  I then realized that usually on this day they play 麻将 with their friends.  So I sent a message saying that I guessed they are playing and so don't worry about replying.  They then replied with "天哪，你长眼睛了“.  What is the best way to translate this to English?  My god, now you you know! My god, you understand! 

 

It seems to me that "My god, your eyes are open" is not something I'd ever say in English.  Also, "My god, you understand" does not pick up the light-hearted joking intention. 

 

Or am I totally reading the Chinese wrong?  Thanks for anyone who can help me understand this properly.

[ZoxGuo]

Actually, most time the situation that we use “你长眼睛了(吗)” is someone knock into you and you're very angry.

But about that … really have no idea what's going on, maybe they're just kidding.

[rexh]

Thanks Zox.  Damn, maybe they were pissed at me!   I know that they have been trying to cut down on the amount that they play.

[Demonic_Duck]

Literally "you've grown eyes" (for the bumping into someone example, I'm guessing it'd be a question instead: "do you have eyes?")

 

In this context, I'd guess it'd be something along the lines of "well done, Captain Obvious" or "no shit, Sherlock".

[rexh]

Lol. It really sounds like they were pissed. I'll ask them about it. Thanks for the feedback

[tooironic]

Sounds similar to 这都被你发现了, another sarcastic remark. Perhaps stronger in tone though.

[Bad Cao Cao]

没长眼睛, 长不长眼睛的 = pissed

长眼睛 = (no negative) depends context. Often relates to looking for something. In the absence of better background info, probably just joking about your xray vision. 

[li3wei1]

My father likes to say "you have a keen insight into the obvious".

[Lu]

To me it also sounds a bit sarcastic (not angry though, just joking). 'No shit Sherlock' sounds like a good translation.

[rexh]

So to follow up I contacted my friend to get clarification on what they meant. They said that they were surprised I really knew what they were doing - like I could see right through them.  So I think Bad Cao Cao was right on the money with the comment on joking about x-ray vision!  Thanks again everyone for your input. It really helps me improve.

[Altair]

My Chinese level is not high, but from the context it seems:

 

天哪，你长 (zhǎng) 眼睛了 ~ Wow, you've got (some pair of) eyes!

 

If you bump into someone and they say it, they mean it ironically:

你长眼睛了 ~ You've got (some pair of) eyes (not to see me standing right in front of you)!

 

 

If you guess what they are doing without being present, it seems to be used as praise:

天哪，你长眼睛了 ~ Wow, you've got (some pair of) eyes (to see what I am doing from two thousand miles away!

 

长不长眼睛的 ~ Don't you have eyes!

[edelweis]

so how do you pronounce it?

I mean the tone sandhi.

[Carl Chen]

Wow! You are not here but you know what we are doing!

[tooironic]

The phrase also reminds me of 长知识了, used when you find out something you didn't know before.