to play it by ear
to act spontaneously without a plan
TRANSLATION
play it by ear = ohne Vorbereitung, aus dem Ärmel, aus dem Stegreif, spontan, etwas improvisieren, es spontan entscheiden, es darauf ankommen lassen
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
"Sometimes, in the heat of battle, traders will throw out their own rules and PLAY IT BY EAR — usually with disastrous results."
Wall Street Journal Market Watch
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"Municipal and regional elections are set for tomorrow, and the protesters have said they will rally today. Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero said he would PLAY IT BY EAR as to whether he would order police to break up demonstrations."
New Zealand Herald
Did you
know?
play it by ear
idiom
- proceed instinctively according to results and circumstances rather than according to rules or a plan
Oxford English Dictionary
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ORIGIN
18th century, exact origin unknown, maybe related to the field of music:
“None of us can read music. None of us can write it”, said John Lennon in 1980. While this statement might astound some people, it’s not uncommon to find rock and jazz musicians who don’t or can’t read music. Lennon’s song-writing partner Paul McCartney didn’t read music either, yet he became one of the most prolific composers in pop history.
Many rock guitarists don’t bother with musical notation, sometimes leading to weird results. Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix once said: “I’ve been imitated so well, that people copy my mistakes.”
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SYNONYMS
go by feeling, go with the flow, just use intuition, let’s see what happens, PLAY IT BY EAR, take it as it comes
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OTHER COMMON EAR-IDIOMS
- to be all ears = to give someone your full attention (We have 20 minutes for this call and I’m all ears)
- to be wet behind the ears = to be inexperienced (He’s still wet behind the ears and will need training)
- to turn a deaf ear to someone or something = to ignore someone or something (I’ve decided to turn a deaf ear to all their complaints)
- to keep an ear to the ground = to watch and look for clues as to what is going to happen (Keep your ear to the ground in case competitors' prices begin to move)
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PRACTICE OWAD in an English conversation, say something like:
“There’s no time left to prepare for the call, we’ll just have to PLAY IT BY EAR.”
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Paul Smith
