walls have ears

English

Pronunciation

• Audio (Southern England)

  (file)

Proverb

walls have ears

1. There is a risk of being overheard, so be careful about what you say.
   • 1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 20, in Steve Yeager:

     "But it is well to remember that walls have ears, and therefore to whisper."

   • 2015 July 15, Thanassis Cambanis, “A Syrian Parody Features the Civil War, and Is Stalked by It”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 September 2017:

     “We're talking about everything you can't discuss in Damascus, because there the walls have ears,” Mr. Taieb said.

Translations

be careful about what you say

• Arabic: اَلْجِدْرَان لَهَا آذَان (al-jidrān lahā ʔāḏān), لِلْحِيطَان آذَان (li-l-ḥīṭān ʔāḏān)
• Belarusian: і сце́ны ма́юць ву́шы (i scjény májucʹ vúšy)
• Bengali: দেয়ালের কান আছে (deẏaler kan ache)
• Burmese: နံရံတိုင်းမှာ နားတွေရှိတယ် (nam-ramtuing:hma na:twehri.tai)
• Cebuano: walay aso makumkom (literally “there is no smoke that can be held”)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 隔牆有耳／隔墙有耳 (zh) (géqiáng yǒu ěr)

• Czech: stěny mají uši (cs)
• Danish: væggene har ører
• Dutch: de muren hebben oren
• Esperanto: la muroj havas orelojn
• Finnish: seinilläkin on korvat
• French: les murs ont des oreilles (fr)
• Georgian: კელდებსაც ყურები აქვს sg (ḳeldebsac q̇urebi akvs)
• German: Wände haben Ohren
• Greek: και οι τοίχοι έχουν αυτιά (kai oi toíchoi échoun aftiá)
• Hungarian: a falnak is füle van (hu)
• Irish: bíonn cluasa ar na claíocha, bíonn cluasa ar an gcoill
• Italian: i muri hanno le orecchie
• Japanese: 壁に耳あり、 障子に目あり (かべにみみあり、 しょうじにめあり, kabe ni mimi ari, shōji ni me ari), 壁に耳あり (かべにみみあり, kabe ni mimi ari), 障子に目あり (しょうじにめあり, shōji ni me ari, literally “sliding doors have eyes”)
• Korean: 낮말은 새가 듣고 밤말은 쥐가 듣는다 (ko) (nanmareun saega deutgo bammareun jwiga deunneunda)
• Latin: parietes habent aures
• Latvian: sienām ir ausis
• Lithuanian: ir sienos girdi, ir sienos turi ausis
• Macedonian: и ѕидовите имаат уши (i dzidovite imaat uši), и ѕидот има уши (i dzidot ima uši)
• Polish: ściany mają uszy (pl)
• Portuguese: as paredes têm ouvidos
• Romanian: pereții au urechi
• Russian: и у стен есть у́ши (i u sten jestʹ úši)
• Scottish Gaelic: cluasan anns gach ceàrn
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: и зидови имају уши

  Roman: i zidovi imaju uši

• Slovak: aj steny majú uši
• Spanish: las paredes oyen
• Swedish: väggarna har öron
• Tagalog: may tainga ang lupa, may pakpak ang balita (literally “the earth has ears, the news have wings”)
• Telugu: గోడకు చెవులుంటాయి (gōḍaku cevuluṇṭāyi)
• Thai: กำแพงมีหู ประตูมีช่อง (th), กำแพงมีหู ประตูมีตา (th)
• Turkish: yerin kulağı vardır
• Ukrainian: і у стін є ву́ха (i u stin je vúxa), і сті́ни ма́ють ву́ха (i stíny májutʹ vúxa)
• Vietnamese: tai vách mạch dừng (vi)

See also

• little pitchers have big ears