洗耳恭听 (xǐ ěr gōng tīng) — (chengyu) to listen with great respect; to be all ears (polite expression)

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

洗 is built from 水 (water) and 先, which gives the character its sound.

A drawing of the thing itself, worn down over three thousand years into a few strokes.

耳 is drawn as a picture of an ear.

Most characters — around four in five — are built this way: one part hints at the meaning, the other at the pronunciation.

恭 has 心, meaning heart, and 共, read gòng.

Two or more meaningful parts placed together so that their meanings combine into a new one.

This origin belongs to the traditional form 聽; 听 is its simplified writing.

The traditional form 聽 has 耳 (ear) and 口 (mouth), used for listening; the simplified 听 is a later shortened form unrelated to that picture.