Welcome to English in a Minute.If you listen to American English,you probably have heard this phrase:Pay it by ear.What does it mean?Let's find out by listening to an American English conversation.
A:Hey,what do you want to do this weekend?
B:I don't know.We could see a movie or have dinner.Why don't we play it by ear?
A:Sure.
"Play it by ear"means you arn't going to make a firm plan,but will decide what to do as you go along.This idiom has a musical meaning too.When you don't have the written music for a song,but you play the notes that you think you've heard,you "play it by ear."So when you are in situation where you make a plan as you go,you're "playing it by ear".
And that's English in a Minute