Ears Ringing or Burning?

Cathedral of Our (Dear) Lady in Antwerp
@Inlemay (17713)
South Africa
October 24, 2018 3:27pm CST
Well, there is much debacle about which is the correct expression in English: "your ears must have been ringing" or "your ears must have been burning"? There isn't a day that goes by, that I don't hear my mom in the back of my mind, saying "if your ears are ringing, someone is talking about you" and as I commented on JJ post about Conversations with God, I have surely sent a ringing right on over to him, because guaranteed, I am going to be talking about it. Please note that I would have loved to give you my own definition, but since this phrase dates back many many many years, I shall just quote what I was able to find via google search: ONE IS BEING TALKED ABOUT. "A tingling or burning sensation in the ears supposedly means that a person is being discussed by others. The origin of this belief goes back to Roman times when augurs (see Under the auspices of) paid particular attention to such signs. Pliny wrote: 'It is acknowledged that the absent feel a presentiment of remarks about themselves by the ringing of their ears' (Naturalis Historia, AD 77). The ancient belief that the left signifies evil and the right good applies here also. Both Plautus and Pliny held that if a person's right ear burns then he is being praised, but a burning left ear indicates that he is the subject of evil intent. English literature, from Chaucer to Dickens, abounds with references to burning ears." Then I was further enlightened about the twitching eye or other body parts which came as a big surprise to me. Now it seems I will have to heed more that one phrase from my google search! "According to ancient belief, other unexpected bodily twitches and sensations also warn of events to come, among them the eye and the thumb. A flickering right eye, for instance, indicates that a friend will visit or that something longed for will soon be seen, and a pricking in one's left thumb warns of an evil event." How very interesting tonights read of JJ's post has turned out to be. It has turned into a proper English Phrase lesson. - We are never too old to learn. My photo is of a Rubens "the raising of the cross" found in the "Cathedral of Our (Dear) Lady" in Antwerp, Belgium where ringing bells had my ears ringing for days afterwards, and conversations with God actually took place.
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8 responses
@topffer (42155)
• France
24 Oct 18
Very interesting post ! If English ears are burning or ringing, French ears are whistling today when somebody is talking about you, but in the 15th C the ears of a French speaker were "couiner", which is weeping with some high-pitch cries.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
25 Oct 18
well we just keep on learning here at mylot - now ears do something totally different in French ~ I always knew the French had more je ne sais quoi that the English
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@topffer (42155)
• France
25 Oct 18
@Inlemay We have many common expressions with English. Clémenceau was saying that England was a French colony that turned bad. Ringing or whistling... we can still understand each other, but if I have to use this expression, I know now what to tell, thanks to this discussion.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
26 Oct 18
@topffer you are welcome - I love to learn where phrases originate and how they are used in modern day languages - thanks for enjoying the topic.
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@just4him (318815)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
28 Oct 18
Someone must talk about me a lot as my ears are always ringing. I hope it's good.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
28 Oct 18
well is it LEFT ear or RIGHT ear? ha ha
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
31 Oct 18
@just4him that might mean a spot of Happy trouble
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@just4him (318815)
• Green Bay, Wisconsin
31 Oct 18
@Inlemay It's both.
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• Preston, England
25 Oct 18
interesting theory of the terms - if my ears were burning i'd wonder if I was standing too close to a candle
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• Preston, England
25 Oct 18
@Inlemay yes, generally standing close to dragons is not good for your health
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
25 Oct 18
you would probably be standing too close to a firey tongue (dragon breath)
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@LadyDuck (475438)
• Italy
25 Oct 18
As I am Italian, we go with the ancient Roman tradition, if it's the right ear someone is praising you, the left ear someone is badmouthing. Usually we ask to say a number from one to 26, the letter of the alphabet corresponding to the number is the initial letter of the name of the person who is talking about you.
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@LadyDuck (475438)
• Italy
26 Oct 18
@Inlemay I head heard the one of topffer. I forgot to mention that when you get a number and check which letter it is, if you say a name and the ringing stops, you got it right.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
26 Oct 18
I am going to give that one a try next time my ears are ringing/burning or whistling - Its nice to learn all the culture varients as topffer explained the French version as well
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@GreatMartin (23670)
• Ft. Lauderdale, Florida
24 Oct 18
My NET doc said that is why my ears are always burning!! Really!
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
25 Oct 18
Really
@nela13 (58953)
• Portugal
25 Oct 18
We have similar expressions here and its meaning is almost the same too.
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@Inlemay (17713)
• South Africa
25 Oct 18
I am glad to hear.
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@Tampa_girl7 (52549)
• United States
14 Dec 18
I grew up hearing this
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@CarolDM (203410)
• Nashville, Tennessee
31 Oct 18
I always say and heard ears were burning.
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