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Your children are making so much noise to a level that you feel your ears are about to explode.

It seems English has an adjective "ear splitting" which means "very loud".

But I am not sure that phrase is idiomatic.

Is it natural to say "Knock it off. You are splitting my ear" in everyday conversations?

3 Answers 3

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I think deafening would be the most natural word to use here. You could say

Knock it off. You are deafening me.

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  • some people suggest using "you are killing my ears", but I am not sure which one, "deafen me" and "kill my ears", is more idiomatic?
    – Tom
    Apr 6, 2021 at 3:19
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    @Tom I've never actually heard the phrase "you are killing my ears" before. Perhaps you're thinking of "you're killing me", but that has a different meaning, which doesn't really have anything to do with the volume.
    – cigien
    Apr 6, 2021 at 3:23
  • so, it could be that the person who suggest "you are killing my ears" might not be a native speaker?
    – Tom
    Apr 6, 2021 at 3:30
  • @Tom That would be my guess. It's also possible that they're using some slang that is well known in their context, but which I'm simply unaware of.
    – cigien
    Apr 6, 2021 at 3:36
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You’re going to make my ears bleed!

Or, more severely,

You’re making my ears bleed!

This is used to describe things that are too loud or horrible to listen to, if not both.

(Usually metaphoric.)

Example in use:

Note: Ear-splitting is only used as an adjective, not a verb.

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No, "ear-splitting" applies to the noise, not what it's doing to you.

No, you wouldnt' say "you're splitting my ears". "Ear splitting" is a phrase used to describe sounds, not to say what those sounds are doing; you can't split it up and remain idiomatic. If your shrieking children are hurting your ears, you might say something like "Knock it off; your ear-splitting shrieks are hurting my ears!"

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