2

Ruth Rendell, Adam, Eve and Pinch Me, 2001, p. 274:

A solicitor came to live next door to my parents when I was a kid. I’ve always remembered my father saying to my mother, he’s a lawyer, don’t touch his ears.

The meaning is quite clear; what I’d like to know, is to touch somebody’s ears an established idiom or a writer’s idiolect?

Improve this question
11
  • 1
    "The meaning is quite clear; " -- Could you tell us what the meaning is?
    – Greybeard
    Commented Jul 27 at 9:36
  • «it's better not to irritate a lawyer», I’d say.
    – Maurizio Valli
    Commented Jul 27 at 10:38
  • No, it is it not an established idiom.
    – Gio
    Commented Jul 27 at 10:54
  • 4
    @XCX Seems very weird to name that specific body part, it's not especially intimate IMHO; I think they'd just say "Don't touch him".
    – Barmar
    Commented Jul 27 at 13:35
  • 1
    @Lambie M-W: "to hit someone on the sides of the head or on the ears". But the real point is that it's hitting, not just touching. It's like the difference between a punch and a fist-bump.
    – Barmar
    Commented Jul 29 at 14:01

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
0

This is possibly a reference to the film There's Something About Mary, which contains the character Warren Jensen, who Wikipedia describes as

Warren Jensen, Mary's intellectually disabled brother who is very protective of his ears.

The film came out in 1998, only three years before Adam, Eve, and Pinch Me.

Improve this answer
8
  • 1
    The narrator is describing his childhood, so that presumably predates the movie.
    – import random
    Commented Jul 29 at 0:51
  • Before There's something about Mary, I don't think there was anything in popular culture about touching people's ears.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jul 29 at 0:53
  • I agree, perhaps it's more of a niche reference relating to training animals like horses or dogs.
    – import random
    Commented Jul 29 at 0:56
  • This seems to be coincidental - being protective about his ears seems to be an idiosyncratic and irrational fear: it is probably part of his disability.
    – Greybeard
    Commented Jul 29 at 12:32
  • @Greybeard: If there is one intellectually disabled person who is very protective of his ears, Ruth Rendell may have extrapolated the existence of other such people in the past, and thus used this expression. Anybody who has seen There's Something About Mary, which was a large percentage of people in 2001, would understand the reference. You don't have to assume that Ruth Rendell is claiming that the father has seen the movie.
    – Peter Shor
    Commented Jul 29 at 12:35

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .