大家一定都知道ear 的意思是“耳朵”，那關(guān)于耳朵，大家了解多少呢？比如 I'm all ears 是什么意思？比如耳朵的“特產(chǎn)”耳屎怎么說？如果你不知道，就“洗耳恭聽”，我來給你講吧！
1. I'm all ears.
我洗耳恭聽。
先給大家講個小故事：One day, we hired a carpenter to repair our house. I dwelt on (詳細講述)all the details that needed repairing to him. Then I asked him, "Are you clear? Can you remember all that?" "Yes!" the carpenter replied. "I am all ears!" I felt puzzled and did not know what he meant. Later my eldest son explained to me that he meant, "I am listening attentively!"
故事中的這個人一定是很奇怪那個木匠為什么要說“我全是耳朵”，還是他兒子幫他解了圍。原來，I am all ears 的意思是 listening eagerly，就是專心聆聽、聚精會神的聽。
與I'm all ears相反的是It goes in one ear and out the other，就是我們常說的“左耳進，右耳出”。小時候媽媽經(jīng)常會抱怨我們把她的話當(dāng)成“耳邊風(fēng)”，比如下面這句話：I told the children to go to bed, but it went in one ear and out the other, and they're still here.（我叫孩子們睡覺，可他們把我的話當(dāng)耳邊風(fēng)，還在那不動。）
2. Your ears are full of earwax.
你的耳朵里全是耳屎。
各位有看過 Jennifer Lopez主演的 The Wedding Planner (愛上新郎) 這部電影嗎? 里面有一段是他們玩拼字游戲。他們拼的就是 earwax 這個詞，也就是英文“耳屎”的意思。看來美國人覺得“耳屎”是一種臘 (wax)。
以前我們講過挖鼻孔是 pick one's nose，那挖耳朵自然就是 pick one's ear了? 沒錯，老美管挖耳朵叫 scratch one's ear 或是 pick one's ear。平常我們挖耳朵用的小勺就叫 earpick。不過老美他們挖耳朵都是用棉花棒 (cotton swab 或者 Q-tip，一種有名棉花棒的牌子)，說 earpick 老美可能會聽不太懂。
