a bird's-eye view

If you have a bird's-eye view of a situation, you are able to form a clear impression of what is happening. Compare a worm's eye view.

Before I left England, I was a parliamentary lobby correspondent, getting a bird's eye view of the way politicians encourage people to believe in dreams.

People often change `bird' to a word that is relevant to what they are talking about.

He seems to have a soldier's eye view.

a child's eye view of the war based on his own experiences.

His pilot's licence enabled us to have a bird's-eye view of the beautiful countryside.

I remember with affection the dmus and splendid Glasgow `blue trains' which gave the added bonus of a driver's eye view.

take a dim view of something

take a poor view of something

If you take a dim view of something, you disapprove of it. In British English, you can also say that you take a poor view of it.

Back in 1989 he took a dim view of lotteries, and wrote to a proposer: `I do support your proposal for a lottery and would wish not to be involved at this stage.'

The French take a dim view of anyone who only snacks at lunchtime and it is usually best to choose one of the fixe set menus, chalked on boards outside.

Fellow critics took a poor view of a critic who reviewed Paramount films and accepted a fee from the studio.

a worm's eye view    

If you say that someone has a worm's eye view of something, you mean that they are able to form an impression of what is happening in a situation, but that they have a low status, or are considered inferior in some way. Compare a bird's-eye view.

Let me offer, then, a worm's eye view of what Thatcherism was, and what its legacy may be.

were considered to leaders who, for the most part, `were complete fools, with a worm's eye view of the world and a poor understanding of their jobs'.

If only gardeners would care, occasionally, to get down and take a worm's eye view of their lawns, they would discover a mass of fascinating and horticulturally very useful information.