little pitchers have big ears

English

Etymology

An allusion to the ear-shaped handles common on pitchers used for serving liquids.

Proverb

little pitchers have big ears

1. Small children often overhear more of what is said than adults realize or desire.
   • 1844, Charlotte M. Yonge, chapter 2, in Abbeychurch:

     Seeing me listening to something she was saying to Mamma, she turned round upon me with that odious proverb, "Little pitchers have long ears."

   • 1939 April 17, “Bedtime Bedlam”, in Time:

     A caution to U. S. parents, but a joy to radio merchandising, is the dread truth that little pitchers have big ears.

   • 2000, Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft, →ISBN, page 185:

     [N]o kid ever ran to his mother and said that his little sister just defecated in the tub. I suppose he might say pushed or went woowoo, but took a shit is, I fear, very much in the ballpark (little pitchers have big ears, after all).

Usage notes

• Often used when adults are conversing in the presence of small children, as a coded reminder to be careful about what one says.

Synonyms

• little pitchers have long ears

Related terms

• pas devant les enfants

Translations

proverb

Danish: små gryder har også ører Finnish: pienilläkin padoilla on korvat Spanish: hay orejas chiquitas Swedish: små grytor har också öron Welsh: mae gan foch bach glustiau (mawr), mae clustiau (mawr) gan foch bach (literally “little pigs have (big) ears”)

See also

• https://web.archive.org/web/20120109074309/http://www.proverbium.org/idioms/little-pitchers-have-big-ears/