Comments on: Ears pinned back

By: J. Groves

J. Groves — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 06:57:41 +0000

I’ve never heard it in the context of being defeated as in the baseball example. I’m only familiar with it in the context of “pinning your ears back” to accomplish a goal at all cost, ie. the defensive lineman example in the discussion.

Due to that I always took it rather literally, as in, you would physically pin your ears back (or someone else would) so that they don’t get in the way or your effort. I assumed this was a reference to the animal world, and dog-fighting in particular. Which makes it slightly politically incorrect in my opinion.

Now, if the baseball announcer would have said, “What can he say? They got their ears boxed.” I would have understood very clearly his point. In this context however, I’m confused by his comment. Or perhaps he’s confused more than I.

By: a. pearson

a. pearson — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:20:16 +0000

The phrase was used tonight in the context of the losing team being soundly defeated during a television broadcast of an 11-0 rout of the Phillies over the Dodgers. One announcer said to the other “What will [Dodgers Manager] Mr. Torre say to his team?” Response: “What can he say? They got their ears pinned back.”

By: nathan

nathan — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 03:18:13 +0000

just heard this expression used in the LAD/PHI game, and this definition works perfectly for the context I heard it in.

By: Alan mayn

Alan mayn — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 14:20:05 +0000

Hi, Do not forgot that have a dog ears pinned back is something commonly done with certain breeds.

By: Paul James

Paul James — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 10:17:14 +0000

I agree with the original post on sports contexts “Ears pinned back”.

It’s used as a term for alert and ready, and never defeated in any way.

By: Tanner

Tanner — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 22:20:24 +0000

i agree about the sports comment. it’s used as a term for being alert and ready, not defeated in any way.

By: cm2006

cm2006 — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 03:25:32 +0000

I disagree with the original post on sports contexts

I’ve listened to pro football (nfl) games for years. The most common usage is that defensive linemen are rushing the quarterback with everything they’ve got, as in “the lineman are coming at the QB with their ears pinned back.”

I’ve never heard it used in the nfl at least to talk about the losing team.

By: johnducmanis

johnducmanis — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 17:01:03 +0000

I always thought it was the power of the recrimination, a mighty blast of invective, that blew the ears back close to the head.

By: tammi swanson

tammi swanson — Sat, 04 Aug 2007 20:39:29 +0000

Dont forget that to have a dogs ears pinned back is something commonly done with certain breeds. For example; the Boxer.