Play It By Ear

Welcome to English in a Minute.

If you listen to American English, you probably have heard this phrase:

Play it by ear.

What does it mean?

Let’s find out by listening to an American English conversation.

Hey, what do you want to do this weekend?

I don’t know.

We could see a movie or have dinner.

Why don’t we play it by ear?

Sure.

“Play it by ear” means you aren’t going to make a firm plan, but will decide what to do as you go along.

This idiom has a musical meaning too.

When you don’t have the written music for a song, but you play the notes that you think you’ve heard, you “play it by ear”.

so when you are in a situation where you make a plan as you go, you’re “playing it by ear”.

And that’s english in a minute.