(Photo: PourquoiPas/Pixabay | Text: David/ArtisanEnglish.jp)
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Idiom: A flea in your ear
Any otolaryngologist (ear, nose, and throat doctor) worth their salt will tell you the smallest thing you should put in your ear is your finger.
Why, then, would someone want to put a flea in your ear?
Well, to send someone away with a flea in their ear means to scold someone, make a sarcastic remark to them or reprimand them.
This is done so strongly that they cannot forget it easily, and thus, their ears are sore.
Imagine how annoying it would be if you had a real flea in your ear.
It could crawl in there, start moving around and bite you, but you would be helpless to get it out.
That would be extremely uncomfortable.
Now imagine if your boss, wife or someone you respected made sarcastic remarks about your professionalism or scolded you for shoddy work and then told you to get out of their sight.
The emotional pain you would feel would be similar to the physical pain of having a flea in your ear.
The origin of this phrase is quite interesting.
It originally came from the French avoir la puce a l’oreille and was used to describe the sexual desire you felt for someone.
Hey, what are you thinking? This is a family-friendly post.
It meant the person you desired was always in your head, and you could not get them out; you were always thinking about them.
Back in the Middle Ages, fleas were everywhere and bothered everyone.
When the phrase moved to England, it took on the meaning of being hurt by something someone said to you in anger.
Flesch-Kincaid Readability Test
This post is understandable by someone with at least a 7th-grade education (age 12).
On the Flesch-Kincaid reading-ease test, this post scores 73.
The easier a passage is to read, the higher the score on a scale of 0 – 100.