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Little pitchers have big ears

Posted by ESC on November 02, 2003

In Reply to: Little pitchers have big ears posted by Jane on November 02, 2003

: I believe the word is pictures. As in sitting still and quiet like a picture on a wall, but hearing everything. What kind of ears do pitchers (the pouring kind or the throwing kind) have to do with listening?

It's referring to the handle on the pitcher.

LITTLE PITCHERS HAVE BIG EARS - "Children hear and understand more than you think they do. The play here is on the resemblance of the ear to the handle of a pitcher. It is an ancient saying, having been recorded by John Heywood in 1546: 'Auoyd your children, smal pitchers haue wide eares.'" From The Dictionary of Cliches by James Rogers (Ballantine Books, New York, 1985).

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