What does it mean?
2007-07-14 09:44:03 · 6 answers · asked by Perseus 3 in Education & Reference ➔ Words & Wordplay
It is to give an unexpected response or an unwelcome hint to someone.
The flea is a nuisance, an unneeded annoyance, and to send someone away with a flea in their ear is to give them something to think about; something they weren't expecting.
2007-07-14 09:58:01 · answer #1 · answered by St.Even 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It's the same as "put a bug in his ear" or "plant a seed". It means to drop a hint to someone that will sway them toward your idea or opinion. Often it gives them a thought or idea which they later think is their own idea, but was actually planted by you. The flea part is because they have a nagging sensation that they should say or do something, like a dog with a flea biting the inside of his ear needs to scratch it, but don't exactly know who or what gave them the idea, only that an action is required.
2007-07-14 09:51:40 · answer #2 · answered by tushanna_m 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
A Flea In Your Ear
2017-01-16 05:35:01 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
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PUT A BUG IN YOUR EAR - "put a bug (or flea) in (someone's) ear, put a bug (or bee) in (someone's) bonnet, to suggest, hint, reveal, around 1900. This seems to be a later version of to earwig."
earwig - pester, insinuate, influence with words, from the earwig insect (first recorded in English in 1000), which was thought to enter the head through the ear." From "Listening to America" by Stuart Berg Flexner (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1982).
2007-07-14 09:52:00 · answer #4 · answered by yancychipper 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
send him away with a question unanswered
2007-07-14 10:15:12 · answer #5 · answered by LK 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
gave him a good telling off!
2007-07-14 09:47:11 · answer #6 · answered by Sal*UK 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋