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Member |
My kids and I were having a light-hearted conversation today and I said I'd throw them out on their ears! They'd never heard the phrase and teased me relentlessly that I was crazy. We looked it up online, and there was a reference to it in the Free Dictionary. There were a few other references to it, but not nearly as many as I thought there'd be. It soon went to "Do your ears hang low." Have you heard of that phrase? Is it rare? Does anyone know where it came from? | ||
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I've heard it a lot in the singular "on your ear" but I'm not sure I've heard the plural. "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson. | |||
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Yes, I've heard it quite often as well. Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. | |||
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My late mother used it, but I doubt I've heard it in thirty years. Archaic, I suppose, but you aren't crazy!  (Well, not for that, anyhow!)It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. -J. Krishnamurti | |||
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Just seems like a euphemism for "out on your arse/ass". Probably wrong, but ... —Ceci n'est pas un seing. | |||
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It is pretty common in the UK. "No man but a blockhead ever wrote except for money." Samuel Johnson. | |||
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Maybe you are right, z, that it's a euphemism for "ass." My kids thought I was just too goody-goody to say "ass."  Ah, but since I had two kids to throw out, I had to have two ears.  | |||
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To use another euphemism for "ass/arse", I've also heard "out on your rear". That could easily become elided into "on your ear". Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. | |||
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| Junior Member |
I have the feeling that this expression could have something to do with the Old West or at least Hollywood's conception of it. You know the set piece repeated in countless movies where the guy is forcibly thrown out of the bar through the swinging doors and invariably lands "on his ears". It's the "bum's rush" only with more emphasis. | |||
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I just scrolled down and down and down the many "throw" pages in the OED, and I couldn't find "throw out on your ear." I really can't find it anywhere. I am thinking of asking Quinion. | |||
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Member |
I've heard it used, mostly by my parents or older, or maybe in movies. I can't wait to hear the answer Quinion comes up with! ******* "Happiness is not something ready made. It comes from your own actions. ~Dalai Lama | |||
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| Member |
I emailed him tonight. I know he's a busy man, so we'll see if he gets back to me. | |||
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Ah, well. Here was my canned response:
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This site doesn't give any suggestions for the origin of the idiom, but it does indicate it comes from the early 1900s. Build a man a fire and he's warm for a day. Set a man on fire and he's warm for the rest of his life. | |||
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| Member |
I guess that makes sense. Since there is no sexy story about it, Quinion probably won't answer me. | |||
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