IdiomBody & Senses
English
Englishtalk someone's ear off
Meaning: To bore someone with one's unending talk.
Example: “My seatmate on the plane talked my ear off for six hours.”
Equivalents in other languages
Spanish: Hablar por los codos Literally: To talk through the elbows
Welsh: Siarad fel pwll y môr Literally: To talk like the sea's pool
Origin: Talk someone's ear off conveys a sense of boredom that may or may not be present in talk a blue streak.
More English idioms
- with bated breath Hardly breathing at all because of fear, excitement, or other strong emotion.
- when hell freezes over Never.
- beat the bushes To search exhaustively.
- between the devil and the deep blue sea Facing two difficult outcomes for the same situation.
- down to earth Practical and rational; unpretentious.
- fair-weather friend A person who is loyal in good times but not when times are difficult.
Explore another collection: False Friends
Words that look familiar in another language but mean something else entirely.
- Sensible Actually means 'sensitive'. For sensible/level-headed, say raisonnable.
- Librairie Actually means 'bookshop'. A library is une bibliothèque.
- Constipado Actually means 'having a head cold'. Estoy constipado = I have a cold.
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