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in one ear and out the other

Idioms

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]

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Shreya says she "refuses to process" the comparisons, saying they go "in one ear and out the other".

From BBC • Feb. 23, 2024

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

I have encouraged him to join the others and let go of his determination to put on pretend Broadway productions, but this goes in one ear and out the other.

From Slate • Dec. 10, 2019

“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

“Doing some work for Mr. Ray after school,” I explained, but for some reason I felt like it went in one ear and out the other.

From "The Boy in the Black Suit" by Jason Reynolds

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023