“to play it by ear” and other figurative expressions

Le présent article a été rédigé par Jonathan Goldberg, que je remercie. Une traduction en français sera prochainement publiée sur ce blog.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dX_TXSabnc

“to play it by ear” means to act according to the circumstances; to improvise

WorldWideWords.com gives the following explanation:

“The phrase by ear goes back a long way in a figurative sense. It’s a metonym, the substitution of a word by another with which it is closely associated.


“It’s in much the same style as Antony’s speech in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar: “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears”. He meant this figuratively, asking his audience to lend him the thing their ears contained, their function — in other words to listen to him, to hear him out. In phrases like by ear the process is taken one stage further: not merely the function of hearing but also being able to accurately reproduce a melody one has heard, without needing written music. So we have phrases like he has a good ear for music and she can play anything by ear.


“The saying has been taken yet another step further away from anything literal when people use it to mean doing something in an extempore way, without planning, according to circumstances as they arise.”


Other idioms containing the word ear:

 all ears

acutely attentive: “Tell your story - we're all ears!”

coming out of (one's) ears

in more than adequate amounts; overabundant

have/keep an ear to the ground

to be on the watch for new trends or information

on its/someone's ear

in a state of amazement, excitement, or uproar

up to (one's) ears

deeply involved or occupied fully: “I'm up to my ears in work.”

to turn a deaf ear

to ignore what someone is saying

to be wet behind the ears

to be inexperienced, like a baby whose ears are still wet

to get a thick ear

to receive a blow on the ear delivered as punishment, in anger, etc.

to be out on one’s ear

to be fired, dismissed or thrown out

to strain one’s ears

to make an effort to hear


from your lips to God's ears

may the things you say come true

French also uses “ear” figuratively:

avoir l’oreille de quelqu’un	to have someone’s ear
avoir l’oreille fine	to have an acute sense of hearing, to have a sharp ear
avoir quelque chose entre les oreilles	to be intelligent
avoir une bonne oreille pour les langues	to have a good ear for languages
casser les oreilles	to make a noise
dire quelque chose dans le creux/tuyau de l'oreille	to have a word in someone’s ear
dormir sur ses deux oreilles	to sleep soundly
dresser l’oreille	to prick up one’s ears
échauffer les oreilles de quelqu'un	to annoy someone
écouter une conversation d’une oreille distraite	to listen to a conversation with only one ear, to only half listen
être dur d'oreille	to be hard of hearing
être tout oreilles / écouter de toutes ses oreilles	to be all ears
faire la sourde oreille	to pretend not to hear
frotter les oreilles a quelqu’un	to box someone’s ears
il y a toujours des oreilles qui trainent	there’s always someone listening
avoir les oreilles qui fanent	to be thirsty
les oreilles ont du lui siffler	his/her ears must have been burning
mettre la puce a l’oreille (de quelqu’un)	to put a bug in someone’s ears
montrer le bout de l'oreille	to show one’s true colours
n’écouter de qu’une oreille	to only half listen
ne pas en croire ses oreilles	not to believe one’s ears
porter qch/venir aux oreilles de quelqu’un	to bring/come to someone’s attention
prêter l’oreille	to lend an ear, to pay attention
rebattre les oreilles a quelqu'un de quelque chose	to endlessly repeat something to someone
rentrer par une oreille et sortir par l'autre	to go in one ear and come out the other
rougir jusqu'aux oreilles	to blush to the roots of one’s hair
s'en aller l'oreille basse	to leave with one’s tail between one’s legs, crestfallen
tirer quelqu’un par les oreilles/	to pull/tweak someone’s ears, to tell somebody off
se faire tirer l'oreille	to need a lot of persuading
tomber  dans l’oreille d’un sourd	to fall on deaf ears
ventre affamé n’a pas d’oreilles	the hungry belly has no ears

Source :         www.expressio.fr – Les expressions françaises décortiquées

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