Meaning of Idiom ‘Music to My (or one’s) Ears’
When something is music to your ears, it makes you happy to hear it; something that is excellent news; gratifying to hear or discover. 1,2
Sentence Examples
“So you’re going to invest in my business? That’s music to my ears.”
“You’re going to go to college after all? That’s music to my ears.”
“My father came from several generations of military men so when I told him I was joining the Marines, it was music to his ears.”
“She said she would stay here if I gave her a reason to. It was music to my ears.”
“Every time that cannon goes off, it’s music to my ears.” — The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (2013)
“The wailing and the gnashing of teeth. The bellowing of the bitterly bummed out! It’ll be like music to my ears! — How the Grinch Stole Christmas (2000)
“So the good news is this song is almost over.” “Well, that’s music to my ears. And the bad news?” — Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted (2012)
Origin
Since most people enjoy listening to music, the idiom ‘music to one’s ears’ is an easy one to decipher, simply alluding to the pleasing quality of music to the human ear, and transferring it to other things like information. The expression has been used since at least the 1940s.
- Ammer, Christine. American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013.
- Ayto, John. [http://amzn.to/2vdGvI7 Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms]. Oxford: Oxford U, 2010.