下面是一个父亲在说他的女儿：

　　例句-1："I told Sally it was foolish to marry that man, but it went in one ear and out the other. Now she wishes she'd listened to me. He drinks and gambles and she wants to leave him."

　　这位爸爸说：“我早就告诉沙利不要那么笨,去和那个人结婚。可是,对于我的话，她是一个耳朵进一个耳朵出。结了婚她才知道那人又喝酒又赌钱。现在她后悔当初没听我的话，想要和他分手啦。”
 
　　下面这个例子是一个老板在对他的秘书说话：

　　例句-2："How many times have I told you to get to work on time. But my words just go in one ear and out the other. So I don't have any choice but to fire you."

　　他说：“我告诉了你多少次上班要准时。可是，你对我的话老是一个耳朵进一个耳朵出。现在，我没有办法了，只好解雇你了。”
 
　　下面我们要讲的一个习惯用语是：play by ear. Play就是玩的意思。可是，play by ear的意思并不是“玩耳朵”。这个词汇的来源和音乐有关系。它原来指的是那些会弹钢琴或某种乐器，但是却不会看五线谱的人。每当他们要弹奏某个曲调时，他们只能凭着上一回听到的记忆来弹。可是play by ear现在已经成为日常用语了，意思是做一件事不是事先有计划的，而是走着瞧，临时决定。例如，你被请到某处去讲话，可是又没有时间准备。你就可以对听众说：

　　例句-3："I haven't had a chance to prepare any notes so all I can do is start talking and play it by ear."

　　这话的意思是：“我今天没有什么准备，所以就只好讲到那儿就算那儿了。”
 
　　下面一个例子是一个人在和朋友约会：

　　例句-4:"I am not sure if my wife wants me to go shopping with her on Sunday. If she decides to go with her sister instead, then I can play tennis with you. Let's just play it by ear."

　　他说：“我还不知道星期天我太太是否要我陪她去买东西。要是她决定和她姐姐一起出去，那我就能和你去打网球。我们就瞧着办吧!”