go in one ear and out the other

English

Alternative forms

• go in at one ear and at out the other

Pronunciation

• Audio (AU):

  (file)

Verb

go in one ear and out the other

1. (idiomatic) To be heard but not attended to, when a person fails to pay attention.

   He told me who he saw, but it went in one ear and out the other.

Translations

to be heard but not attended to

• Chinese:

  Cantonese: 左耳入，右耳出 (zo² ji⁵ jap⁶, jau⁶ ji⁵ ceot¹)

  Mandarin: 當耳邊風／当耳边风 (zh), 当耳边风 (zh) (dàng ěrbiānfēng), 左耳朵進，右耳朵出／左耳朵进，右耳朵出 (zh), 左耳朵进，右耳朵出 (zh) (zuǒ ěrduo jìn, yòu ěrduo chū)

  Min Nan: 一耳空入，一耳空出 (Tsi̍t hīnn-khang ji̍p, tsi̍t hīnn-khang tshut)

• Finnish: mennä yhdestä korvasta sisään ja toisesta ulos
• French: rentrer par une oreille et ressortir par l’autre (fr)
• Galician: entrar por unha orella e saír pola outra
• German: zum einen Ohr hinein- und zum anderen wieder hinausgehen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Hungarian: egyik fülén be, a másikon ki
• Icelandic: innum eitt eyrað og útum hitt
• Korean: 한쪽 귀로 듣고 한쪽 귀로 흘려버리다 (hanjjok gwiro deutgo hanjjok gwiro heullyeobeorida)
• Russian: в одно́ у́хо влета́ет, в друго́е вылета́ет (v odnó úxo vletájet, v drugóje vyletájet) (flies in one ear, flies out the other)
• Spanish: entrar por un oído y salir por el otro
• Telugu: ఒక చెవితో విని మరో చెవితో వదిలెయ్యడం (oka cevitō vini marō cevitō vadileyyaḍaṁ)
• Thai: เข้าหูซ้ายทะลุหูขวา (th)