walls have ears

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walls have ears

1. There is always a risk of being overheard, so one should be careful about what one says.
   • 1915, William MacLeod Raine, chapter 20, in Steve Yeager:

     "But it is well to remember that walls have ears, and therefore to whisper."

   • 2015 July 15, Thanassis Cambanis, “A Syrian Parody Features the Civil War, and Is Stalked by It”, in New York Times, retrieved 27 September 2017:

     “We're talking about everything you can't discuss in Damascus, because there the walls have ears,” Mr. Taieb said.

• little pitchers have big ears