據(jù)說一個(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”：聚在一起愛聽八卦、愛打聽。剛巧，有俚語“to have itching ears”可以專門形容這類人。注意啦，英語中“愛窺探秘密的人”會(huì)“耳朵發(fā)‘癢’”。
這種說法來頭還不小，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)厭煩聽純正的教義，但如果你能激發(fā)聽者聽的欲望，他們就會(huì)聚擁于師傅周圍。）
顯然，保羅口中”to have itching ears“（聽的欲望）可不是讓信徒“聽八卦”，但隨著歲月的流逝，“to have itching ears”現(xiàn)常用來喻指“好打聽，愛聽新奇的事”?？聪旅孢@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，漢弗萊太太問我是否聽見鄰居吵架了；她就愛聽個(gè)新鮮事。）
最后問一句：Ladies and gentlemen, do you have itching ears?
