Are you ears burning是耳朵着火了吗？当然不是，那么Are you ears burning是什么意思呢？下面就和新航道成都学校一起回到遥远的古罗马帝国，来找寻一下这句惯用语的起源，看看这句话到底是什么意思吧。

1、背景故事

As with almost all superstitions（迷信），the origin of this one is also disputed（争议）by many， but still，the majority agrees about one origin. In the old Roman Empire，there was saying that if your ears are burning then someone is talking about you in your absence. Even in the old Roman scriptures（经文），written by Pliny（普林尼，古罗马一名百科全书式的作家），there are references to this superstition（迷信） as well. There are two parts of this superstition，and both Pliny and Plautus（普劳图斯，古罗马剧作家）have stated in their writings that burning of the two different ears signifies（象征）two different things altogether. It has been the belief of a man for centuries that the right side is signified by goodness and everything that is positive in the world, while the left side stands for darkness and everything that is evil.

与几乎所有的迷信一样，这一迷信的起源众说纷纭，但大多数人都认同这个迷信来源于古罗马，而且它的意思是说，如果你觉得耳朵发烫或者痒，就说明有人在你背后谈论你。古罗马作家普林尼和剧作家普劳图斯都在他们的著作中指出，左耳发烫和右耳发烫所代表的意思是不一样的。而且几个世纪以来，人们一直认为，右侧是善良和世界上一切积极事物的象征，而左侧则是黑暗和邪恶中的一切事物，所以左耳发烫则意味着可能有人在说你坏话，而右耳发烫则是有人在夸赞你呢。

2、现学现用

Tom： “Hey Jerry， I feel like my ears are burning！”

Jerry： “Oh！That means someone is talking about you behindyour back！” 

Tom：“嘿Jerry，我感觉我的耳朵好烫啊！”

Jerry：“那肯定是有人在背后谈论你哦！”

3、相近表达

除了burning ears外，还可以用以下的表达来说被人在背地里谈论：

I feel like my friends are talking about me behind my back.

我感觉我的朋友都在我背后议论我。

Tracy is secretly discussing about her mother.

Tracy在偷偷地谈论她的妈妈。

Nobody likes to be talked about surreptitiously.

没有人喜欢被偷偷摸摸地讨论。

现在知道Are you ears burning是什么意思了吧，当你跟你朋友们在一起发现他耳朵发红，你可以打趣地来上那么一句“your ears are burning！Someone is talking about you！”并且这句惯用语非常的口语化，大家在生活中完全可以去使用。