Meaning
Disobedient and won't listen — stubbornly ignoring advice, warnings, or instructions. A 'hard-ears' child (or adult) hears what they're told but refuses to heed it. One of the most-used scoldings in Jamaican child-rearing, tied to the warning 'if yuh cyaan hear, yuh wi feel'.
Examples
-
Yuh too hard-ears, yuh nuh listen to nobody.
You're too disobedient; you don't listen to anyone.
-
Di hard-ears bwoy climb di tree an fall.
The disobedient boy climbed the tree and fell.
-
Stop being hard-ears an do wha mi tell yuh.
Stop being stubborn and do what I told you.
Origin
From 'hard' + 'ears' — ears too 'hard' to let advice in; disobedient. See [[if-yuh-cyaan-hear-yuh-feel]], [[facety]].
How it’s used
Disobedient, won't heed advice. See [[if-yuh-cyaan-hear-yuh-feel]], [[back-chat]].