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[0390] All ears

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English Idioms
All Idioms

Explanation

  • To be fully focused on listening; ready, eager, and attentive to hear what someone has to say.

Origin

  • Metaphorical. It implies that one's entire attention, especially the sense of hearing (symbolized by ears), is directed towards the speaker. The word all emphasizes completeness and concentration.
  • Dates from the 18th century.

Synonyms & Related Expressions

  • Listening intently / attentively
  • Paying close attention
  • Hanging on every word (Implies great interest or importance)
  • Ready to listen
  • You have my undivided attention.
  • Listening with both ears (Less common variant)

Alternatives

Slang/Informal:

  • Lay it on me (Invites someone to speak, often about problems or news)
  • Spill it / Spit it out (Urges someone to say something quickly, often gossip or secrets)
  • I'm listening (More direct, neutral, less enthusiastic)
  • Shoot (Very informal invitation to begin speaking)
  • Hit me (Informal: Tell me the news/information)
  • What's the word? / What's up? (Asking for news/updates)

More Formal:

  • I am ready to listen.
  • You have my full attention. / My attention is yours.
  • Please proceed. / Do tell.
  • I await your input.

Situational Appropriateness

  • Informal to neutral.
  • Very common in everyday conversations.
  • Can be used in less formal professional contexts like team meetings, feedback sessions, or one-on-one discussions (Okay, present your proposal, I'm all ears.).

Misunderstanding Warnings

  • Metaphorical. Does not imply the person has more than two ears. It emphasizes the *quality* (attentiveness) and *completeness* of their listening focus.

Examples

  • You have some gossip? Okay, tell me everything – I'm all ears!
  • If you have ideas on how to improve the process, please share them. I'm all ears.
  • The children were all ears as their grandfather told the adventure story.

Dialogue

Priya: I finally figured out the solution to that coding problem we were stuck on!

David: No way! That's great! Tell me, I'm all ears.

Priya: Okay, so the issue wasn't in the main function, it was actually in how we handled the exceptions... [explains the solution]

David: (Listening intently) Ah, that makes sense!

Social Media Examples

  • Reply to a tweet asking for advice: Happy to share my experience! DM me if you want to chat – I'm all ears. 👂
  • Instagram Story Response Sticker: (To a question like Ask me anything!) -> Option: All ears!
  • Forum comment: Interesting topic! Looking forward to reading everyone's opinions. I'm all ears. #discussion #community

Response Patterns

After someone says I'm all ears (or similar):

  • The speaker usually begins sharing their information, story, or idea immediately. Okay, so basically... / Well, what happened was...

Common Follow-up Questions/Actions

  • The person who is all ears demonstrates active listening (nodding, eye contact, minimal interruption).
  • The speaker proceeds to communicate what they intended.
  • The listener might ask relevant questions after the speaker has finished or paused.

Conversation Starter

  • No. It's a response indicating readiness and willingness to listen, usually prompted by someone signaling they have something to say.

Intonation

  • Typically said with enthusiasm or keen interest.
  • Stress on ALL and EARS.
  • Okay, I'm ALL EARS!

Generation Differences

  • Widely understood and used across all generations.

Regional Variations

  • Common in all major English-speaking regions.
Keep your chin up
🎲 Break a leg