2007-11-20 03:33:28 · 3 answers · asked by Anonymous in Arts & Humanities ➔ Philosophy
If you get an actual flea in your ear, its not only irritating and annoying but painful and very uncomfortable.
So when someone makes that phrase that are referring to the fact that they are going to be irritating and annoying but also make sure that the person cant get comfortable and be a pain to them.
2007-11-20 03:43:54 · answer #1 · answered by cheek_of_it_all 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
The earliest reference I can find to that expression is from a book by Francois Rabelais called "Gargantua and Pantagruel" (link 1). In one section a character has an earring made with an image of a flea on it and another asks him what he means by it.
That the meaning wasn't intrinsically clear to the other character in the story or a joke suggests that having a 'flea in your ear' wasn't a common expression at the time when this was written (the 16th century). Rabelais, however, was a popular enough author to MAKE it a common expression by its inclusion in such a fashion. So this seems to be the likely source of the saying.
It refers, as others have pointed out, to having something which seems small but becomes a great irritation over time. Certainly if you PUT a flea in someone else's ear, then it suggests you are giving them something to bother them for some time. In the case of the above book, the character's 'flea' is that he wishes to marry.
Hope that helps!
2007-11-20 14:36:41 · answer #2 · answered by Doctor Why 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
It doesn't make sense to me either. I try to avoid using that term every chance I get.
2007-11-20 11:45:12 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋