How the myth came about that when you hear ringing in your ears, someone is talking about you?
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This is one of those things that doesn’t really have a defined origin. It’s a nebulous explanation that was proposed at some point in history, and has been adopted by the culture until it’s just something everyone has heard.
It’s worth noting that there was probably never a point in history when it was actually *believed* that ringing in your ears meant that someone was talking about you. Like a lot of sayings, it’s one of those myths that has its roots in basically making children shut up and behave – like “eating crusts makes your hair curl.”
It was never actually believed (by adults) that eating crusts made a person’s hair curly. Curly hair was once a very, very desirable trait and any woman with naturally curly hair was guaranteed to marry well (hence “curly locks curly locks wilt thou be mine, thou shall not wash dishes nor yet feed the swine…”) So parents would tell this fib to make children eat all of their food when resources were scant, a kind of “eating broccoli will make you grow up big and strong” but with a little less truth to it.
“Ringing in your ears means someone is talking about you” is a myth along the same vein. It encourages children to behave.
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