Indexer
Are your ears burning? If they are, it is presumably because someone, somewhere, is talking about you! At least, that is the belief held by some, although “old wives tale” would surely be nearer the truth!
The superstition – for it is nothing more than that – only applies when the talking is being done way out of earshot – it is not the case that you suspect that you are the subject of discussion between people on the other side of the room but can’t quite hear what they are saying.
It might surprise you to learn that this notion owes its existence to the Roman writer Pliny the Elder, who wrote during the first century AD and was a victim of the eruption of Vesuvius that buried Pompeii and Herculaneum in 79 AD. Pliny set out to write down as much knowledge – about everything – as he could gather, producing 37 volumes of his “Natural History”. It was his insatiable curiosity that prompted him to get too close to Vesuvius.
In Book 28 of Natural History Pliny wrote a collection of commonly held superstitions, and he managed to find and record around 20,000 of them. Somewhere on the list was:
“… it is believed that absent people divine, by the ringing in their ears, that people are talking about them.”
It is important to remember that Pliny’s intention was to debunk all these superstitions, not to publicize them, but the latter does appear to have been the end result.
One writer who took up the idea – whether directly or indirectly from Pliny is not known – was Geoffrey Chaucer, who used it in his Troilus and Criseyde, written in the 1370s. Criseyde’s uncle Pandarus tells her that he and Troilus will:
“… speak of thee somewhat … when thou art gone, to make thy ears glow”
This is not quite what Pliny had in mind, given that the person with glowing ears is not supposed to know that they are the topic of conversation, but only to assume that they are – due to the red ears!
Although this is clearly a piece of nonsense, as Pliny tried to make clear, the superstition is still around nearly 2,000 years later. However, let’s hope that not too many people take it seriously. It is almost always mentioned as a joke, such as: “We were talking about you yesterday, were your ears burning?” – to which the answer should always be “No”!
Superstitions can certainly have an impact.
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Lovely post!
Beautiful post 🙂 I thought that superstition is from our area (Balkan Peninsula).
I think it has spread far and wide!
Obviously 🙂 It’s amazing how many people around the world share same ideas, even if it’s a simple superstition 🙂
I thought that there was so much superstition in my country.
How Amazing Photos Nice Post!
How cool is this and I love the image! 🙂
Yes – it was a bit of luck finding this instead of a picture of a boring old ear!
chinese believe that if your eye twitch (depending on which side) could mean good omen or bad.
V good Article. Such a best post. Very nice.
Well Indexer, another great post. I would have to say that my ears are not exactly “burning” but rather “ringing” 24/7, 365 days a year. Does that mean that people are constantly talking about me? No, certainly not. It is due to my tinnitus. Imagine about 1000 cicadas constantly humming. That is what I hear all the time. But since it has been going on now for about almost 10 years, I am used to it and almost immune. Thank you for a great and wonderful post, as always.
I’m sorry to hear that. I have heard similar stories from other sufferers.
The words Pliny used were, “tinnitu aurium” (ringing of the ears) which, by name too, is reminiscent of your condition, HG. I also suffer from this intermittently, as did my mother for many years. John, you don’t touch on how a sound in the ears could transform into a visual or tactile ‘glowing’ during the millennium or so before Chaucer took it up?
Norman, That’s true! Unfortunately, Chaucer is not around to ask! I suppose the point is that Pliny did not invent the idea, he merely recorded it, so the general concept was in the public domain before his time and presumably long afterwards. It would not be surprising if it underwent a few changes before Chaucer became aware of it.
Beautiful article thanks
My granny used to say “if your palm itches, your coming into riches” and “if your ears burn, then someone is talking about you” also “if your nose itches, then someone is coming to visit with a hole in their britches”
Do grannies count as “old wives”? They are certainly good at telling tales, so I hear – but I never had a grandparent so I can’t speak from experience.