in one ear and out the other

Idioms  

1. Quickly forgotten, as in Their advice to her just went in one ear and out the other. This expression, a proverb in John Heywood's 1546 collection, conjures up a graphic image of sound traveling through one's head. [Late 1300s]

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Example Sentences

It goes in one ear and out the other.

From Slate • Aug. 31, 2023

Not looking, on the computers, going in one ear and out the other or talking to each other or multitasking or whatever.

From Salon • Jul. 22, 2023

The veteran defensive tackle insists he lets any criticism go in one ear and out the other.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2022

“Most of the stuff he says is in one ear and out the other anyway,” said Morris, 42, who didn’t vote for Trump or Hillary Clinton.

From Washington Post • May 5, 2018

I guess I’d been reading newspaper stories about it and hearing people shout over the whole thing for so long that I didn’t listen anymore—it just went in one ear and out the other.

From "My Brother Sam is Dead" by James Lincoln Collier and Christopher Collier