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You are here: Home / Language / Where does the expression “to set people together by the ears” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “to set people together by the ears” come from and What does it mean?

February 25, 2020 by Karen Hill

The expression “to set people together by the ears” means to involve them in a quarrel; set them at variance; create among them.

The original ears were those of quarrelsome animals, those of cats especially, which tore at each other’s ears when fighting.

Thus Laurence Tomson in his translation (1579) of Calvin’s Sermons on the Epistles to Timothie and Titus wrote, “When we be together by the eares like dogs and cattes.”

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Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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