據(jù)說(shuō)一個(gè)女人等于500只鴨子，這個(gè)等式是從制造噪音的角度來(lái)講的。雖然有些夸張，但是確實(shí)塑造了女人們的“大眾形象”：聚在一起愛(ài)聽(tīng)八卦、愛(ài)打聽(tīng)。剛巧，有俚語(yǔ)“to have itching ears”可以專門形容這類人。注意啦，英語(yǔ)中“愛(ài)窺探秘密的人”會(huì)“耳朵發(fā)‘癢’”。
這種說(shuō)法來(lái)頭還不小，出自《圣經(jīng)·新約·提摩太后書》第4章第3節(jié)。基督的使徒保羅勸勉其門徒Timothy（提摩太）要精彩布道，用意趣橫生的講解激發(fā)聽(tīng)眾的興趣：For the time will come when they will not endure the sound doctrine;but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears.（有時(shí)候，他們會(huì)厭煩聽(tīng)純正的教義，但如果你能激發(fā)聽(tīng)者聽(tīng)的欲望，他們就會(huì)聚擁于師傅周圍。）
顯然，保羅口中”to have itching ears“（聽(tīng)的欲望）可不是讓信徒“聽(tīng)八卦”，但隨著歲月的流逝，“to have itching ears”現(xiàn)常用來(lái)喻指“好打聽(tīng)，愛(ài)聽(tīng)新奇的事”。看下面這個(gè)例句：Yesterday Mrs.Humphry asked me whether I had heard my neighbors quarrelling with each other；she has itching ears．（昨天，漢弗萊太太問(wèn)我是否聽(tīng)見(jiàn)鄰居吵架了；她就愛(ài)聽(tīng)個(gè)新鮮事。）
最后問(wèn)一句：Ladies and gentlemen, do you have itching ears?
