English

Noun

music to someone's ears

1. (idiomatic) Some good news; a spoken expression or a sound which is pleasing; a welcome remark or information.
   • 1838, James Fenimore Cooper, Home as Found, ch. 23:

     [T]he earnestness and passion with which the young man uttered his feelings, made music to her ears.

   • 1902, Mark Twain, "Was it Heaven? Or ****?":

     [P]eople who for any reason wanted to get on the soft side of him, called him The Christian—a phrase whose delicate flattery was music to his ears.

   • 1909, E. W. Hornung, Mr. Justice Raffles, ch. 1:

     [S]topping once to gloat over the sunset across Trafalgar Square, . . . the din of its traffic was music to his ears.

   • 2006, "No Harm Meant, Honest," Time, 15 Oct.:

     "We should aim for a lower ambition," Dannatt said. . . . Not what you might call music to his boss's ears.

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