Saturday, February 15, 2014

What Does It Mean?

It is day 15 of the Third Second Annual 30 Minus 2 Days of Writing challenge hosted by Nicky and Mike at We Work for Cheese and today's prompt is My ears are ringing.  Are your ears ringing yet?  No, well head over to WWFC for the latest buzz.


Image Source:  ed101.bu.edu
We've all had ringing ears at one time or another, right? You know that high pitch sound that comes on suddenly and other sounds are momentarily hushed.  It's obvious immediately when it happens but it goes away so gradually you hardly notice. When the ringing in your ears doesn't go away it is likely tinnitus, which commonly affects people over 40, and more often men than women. Medication or injury can also cause ringing ears.  

But this is not a medical lesson.  We're here for another reason. Superstition. That't right. Did you know there is a superstition about ringing ears? You didn't?  I didn't either. 


The superstition holds that if your left ear is ringing, then someone is saying nice things about you. But, if your right ear is ringing, beware because someone is speaking badly of you.  I had always heard that if your ears were burning, then someone was talking about you. This is better because you know if it's good or bad.


According to one source, you can break it down even further by not only left or right ear, but by the time of day the ringing occurs.  


11 p.m. - 1 a.m.

Left ear means a girlfriend or loved one is thinking about you.
Right ear means you will lose money.

1 a.m. - 3 a.m.

Left ear means you will have a quarrel.
Right ear means you will have a more serious dispute.

3 a.m. - 5 a.m.

Left ear means you will lose money.
Right ear means you will be rushed off your feet.

It goes on to cover all 24 hours of the day with such predictions as friends coming over, you will be taking a journey, you will have a feast, etc.   The writer states that these are the Chinese interpretations of ringing in the ears.


After all that, my ears are ringing, how about yours?




13 comments:

  1. My ears are ringing from French Horn practice...What does it say about that? Liked you funny post.

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  2. Hey Ashley, thanks for dropping by. I don't think it mentioned French Horns, but I would recommend some ear plugs! ;)

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  3. That was a fascinating tid-bit of information. I never knew that. I thought when my ears were ringing I had to answer the phone.

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  4. People with Tinnitus must be terribly confused and paranoid.

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  5. Leave it to the Chinese to come up with something like that.

    I grew up with the usage that you say "my ears must have been burning" if you encounter someone that tells you they were just talking about you.

    Tinnitus is no fun for sure.

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  6. Huh. Nice post. I had no idea ringing ears could portend the future. But then, I've never had ringing in my ears.

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  7. I am one of those people who will learn what it means and then forget five seconds later. That makes my ears ring!

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  8. If I wiggle my ears while they are ringing, what does that mean?

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  9. nonamedufus- I didn't know that either. Who knew blogging would be so educational.

    Cheryl- I'd never keep it all those straight.

    ReformingGeek- I remember the "ears burning", too. This just takes it all a step further.

    Linda- My ears only rang once when I had to take antibiotics and aspirin 24/7 for an illness.

    Katherine- Mine, too!

    Frank- Yeah, Google turns up all kind of interesting tidbits.

    Tami- I don't know...try it and see what happens.

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  10. I was aware of the "people are talking about you" superstition, but I had no idea that the time of day was ever incorporated into the myth. Thanks for the lesson.

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  11. "But, if your right ear is ringing, beware because someone is speaking badly of you."


    Ut - oh! Then I must be getting a bad reputation lately - because my right ear has been ringing like crazy for three days in a row.

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  12. KZ- I didn't either. Learn something new every day.

    Meleah- I don't think you have anything to worry about.

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