between the ears
- idiom
- Informal
:
en la mente
- He realized the real barrier to learning was between the ears, not the curriculum.
Examples
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Her confidence comes from what happens between the ears, not just her physical skills.
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Sometimes the biggest challenges in sports are between the ears.
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The solution lies between the ears of the team.
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You need to think between the ears to solve this problem.
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He realized that the main obstacle to success was between the ears, rooted in his mindset.
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In competitive sports, much of the battle is fought between the ears, where mental resilience is key.
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To improve your performance, you must strengthen what is between the ears, not just your physical ability.
Synonyms
1
8.9
Happens inside a person's mind and involves their thoughts and feelings
Happens inside a person's mind and does not involve other people
Happens inside a person's own mind without showing it to others
Surface Forms
Morphology
between + the + ears
The phrase literally places something 'between' the 'ears', so a learner can infer a location inside the head and therefore relate it to mind or mental capacity; the meaning is a straightforward spatial-to-mental mapping rather than an arbitrary idiom. This kind of 'in the head' conception is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows the words would likely understand the intended sense.
Etymology
Between the ears comes from the simple picture of something inside the head, literally between the ears. So when people say it today, they mean what is in a person's 'mind' or their thinking and ability, not outside reasons.