Without even Blinking

[DavidDe]

What does "without even blinking" mean ?

i.e. But Joan Charot can make or break our project without even blinking.
i.e. During the recession they can give big loans to our bank without even blinking.
i.e. If Country "a" goes to war with country "b", it can destroy country 'b' without even blinking.

Thanks for the help

[Joe]

"Blinking" is when you shut and open your eyes, which is something you do 15,000 times a day or 5 times a second. Not exactly hard work, and it doesn't take long either.

So anything that you can do without even blinking (or before blinking) is extremely easy and can be done very quickly.

[DavidDe]

The ability to do something quickly and effortlessly is best suited for the examples I mentioned above.

However, can it be sometimes interpreted that someone can accomplish something without tiredness; because we are also blinking when we feel tired; at least I do.

Thanks

[Joe]

I don't really follow you. If we do sthg effortlessly we do it without tiredness. Perhaps you can give an example of what you mean.

[DavidDe]

i.e. He has been studying for a week without even blinking to get ready for the tomorrow exam.

- ability to accomplish a difficult task without allowing tiredness to overcome him.

[Joe]

i.e. He has been studying for a week without...

Please use "e.g." here, not "i.e."
See: http://eslblogs.englishclub.com/english ... /eg-or-ie/

[Joe]

The use of "without even blinking" in this way (i.e., literally rather than figuratively) is not idiomatic for the context.