Myths

[marketme]

if your right ear is burning what does that mean?

[becks]

Think it means someone is talking about you... if you choose to believe that sort of thing...

[TK421]

The saying goes "Right, your mother - Left your Lover" Meaning that if your Right ear is burning then your mother or family is talking about you and if your left ear is burning then a friend or other non family member is. Hard to believe though....

[nedflanders]

It means you answered the iron when the phone rang.

[buttons]

I knew it as Right for Spite, Left for Love

[darth vader]

your hat is on fire

[Jenny Tools]

Your earring aid has just had a short circuit.

[woofgang]

dammit nedflanders you got in first!!

[Quizmonster]

The following (modified) sentence appears in 'Macbeth' ..."By the tingling of my thumbs, something wicked this way comes." (It's not 'tingling' in Shakespeare's version, but I'm sure AnswerBank won't allow me to use the actual word. If you need a clue, it's what you feel if you stick a needle into your finger.) There's also the idea, if you shiver, that that means someone is walking over your eventual grave-site. An itchy palm means money is coming your way and there are many other similar beliefs. All of these examples are superstitious hangovers from the days of witchcraft/angels etc, when people believed they were constantly being offered signs and warnings of distant or future events. The idea that 'burning' ears means someone somewhere is talking about you is just another illustration of the same idea. The notion presumably is that you are desperately anxious to hear what they're actually saying...ie you're "burning to know". The idea that which ear is burning matters is clearly a much more modern addition.

[skelly]

Drivers side on fire.

[skelly]

unless you're a european, then it's probably the radio that's on fire.