have Van Gogh's ear for music

English

WOTD – 30 May 2012

Etymology

Van Gogh (a painter, not a musician) is famed for cutting off his own ear. The phrase is attributed to Billy Wilder.

Pronunciation

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Verb

have Van Gogh's ear for music (third-person singular simple present has Van Gogh's ear for music, present participle having Van Gogh's ear for music, simple past and past participle had Van Gogh's ear for music)

1. (humorous) To be tone-deaf.
   • 1970, Tom Wood, The bright side of Billy Wilder, primarily:

     After listening to Cliff Osmond, a huge, 225-pound actor, rehearse a song he was to sing as part of his role in Kiss Me, Stupid, Billy observed, not unkindly, "You have Van Gogh's ear for music."

   • 2006, Stephen Murray, Darin Jewell, Dirty Laundry, page 2:

     […] some inebriated idiot belting out a karaoke number thinking that he or she is perfectly in tune and the rest of the audience is somehow captivated by the performance — most of them have Van Gogh's ear for music.

   • 2011, Joseph O'Connor, Cowboys and Indians, page 148:

     Brian had Van Gogh's ear for music. When Clint told him that he said, 'Hey, that's great, thanks Clint,' like it was a compliment.

Translations

humorous: to be tone-deaf

• Russian: медве́дь на у́хо наступил (ru) (medvédʹ na úxo nastupil)