walls have ears
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
Be careful what you say, as others may be listening.
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
Cẩn thận với những gì bạn nói, vì người khác có thể đang lắng nghe
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: Walls can hear
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Sources & notes
Listed on Wikipedia “List of proverbial phrases” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-30; pending editor spot-check.
Equivalents & related
Common questions
What does “walls have ears” mean?
Be careful what you say, as others may be listening. Literally: Walls can hear
Is “walls have ears” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.
What is the closest equivalent?
“tai vách, mạch rừng” (Tiếng Việt) — near equivalent.