"little pitchers have big ears" meaning in English

See little pitchers have big ears in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Proverb

Etymology: An allusion to the ear-shaped handles common on pitchers used for serving liquids. Head templates: {{head|en|proverb|head=little pitchers have big ears}} little pitchers have big ears
  1. Small children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire. Synonyms: little pitchers have long ears Related terms: pas devant les enfants Translations (proverb): små gryder har også ører (Danish), pienilläkin padoilla on korvat (Finnish), hay orejas chiquitas (Spanish), små grytor har också öron (Swedish), mae gan foch bach glustiau (mawr) (Welsh), mae clustiau gan foch bach (mawr) (Welsh)

Alternative forms

{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the ear-shaped handles common on pitchers used for serving liquids.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "little pitchers have big ears"
      },
      "expansion": "little pitchers have big ears",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
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        },
        {
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        },
        {
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          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Welsh links with redundant wikilinks",
          "parents": [
            "Links with redundant wikilinks",
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      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1844, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 2, in Abbeychurch:",
          "text": "Seeing me listening to something she was saying to Mamma, she turned round upon me with that odious proverb, \"Little pitchers have long ears.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1939 April 17, “Bedtime Bedlam”, in Time:",
          "text": "A caution to U. S. parents, but a joy to radio merchandising, is the dread truth that little pitchers have big ears.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, →ISBN, page 185:",
          "text": "[N]o kid ever ran to his mother and said that his little sister just defecated in the tub. I suppose he might say pushed or went woowoo, but took a shit is, I fear, very much in the ballpark (little pitchers have big ears, after all).",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Small children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire."
      ],
      "id": "en-little_pitchers_have_big_ears-en-proverb-D6jnHuW9",
      "links": [
        [
          "children",
          "children"
        ],
        [
          "overhear",
          "overhear"
        ],
        [
          "adult",
          "adult"
        ],
        [
          "realize",
          "realize"
        ],
        [
          "desire",
          "desire"
        ]
      ],
      "related": [
        {
          "word": "pas devant les enfants"
        }
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "little pitchers have long ears"
        }
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "code": "da",
          "lang": "Danish",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "små gryder har også ører"
        },
        {
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "pienilläkin padoilla on korvat"
        },
        {
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "hay orejas chiquitas"
        },
        {
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "små grytor har också öron"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "mae gan foch bach glustiau (mawr)"
        },
        {
          "code": "cy",
          "lang": "Welsh",
          "sense": "proverb",
          "word": "mae clustiau gan foch bach (mawr)"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "little pitchers have big ears"
}
{
  "etymology_text": "An allusion to the ear-shaped handles common on pitchers used for serving liquids.",
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "proverb",
        "head": "little pitchers have big ears"
      },
      "expansion": "little pitchers have big ears",
      "name": "head"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "proverb",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "pas devant les enfants"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
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        "Terms with Danish translations",
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        "Terms with Swedish translations",
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1844, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 2, in Abbeychurch:",
          "text": "Seeing me listening to something she was saying to Mamma, she turned round upon me with that odious proverb, \"Little pitchers have long ears.\"",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1939 April 17, “Bedtime Bedlam”, in Time:",
          "text": "A caution to U. S. parents, but a joy to radio merchandising, is the dread truth that little pitchers have big ears.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2000, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, →ISBN, page 185:",
          "text": "[N]o kid ever ran to his mother and said that his little sister just defecated in the tub. I suppose he might say pushed or went woowoo, but took a shit is, I fear, very much in the ballpark (little pitchers have big ears, after all).",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Small children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire."
      ],
      "links": [
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  ],
  "synonyms": [
    {
      "word": "little pitchers have long ears"
    }
  ],
  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "da",
      "lang": "Danish",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "små gryder har også ører"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "pienilläkin padoilla on korvat"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "hay orejas chiquitas"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "små grytor har också öron"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "mae gan foch bach glustiau (mawr)"
    },
    {
      "code": "cy",
      "lang": "Welsh",
      "sense": "proverb",
      "word": "mae clustiau gan foch bach (mawr)"
    }
  ],
  "word": "little pitchers have big ears"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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