It should be "los oídos".

I haven't though much about your other question, but if I hear "oreja" I think of the external visible part, and for "oído" I think of the inner part. I would say: " Me limpio la oreja con una esponja (de baño), y el oído con un bastoncillo (Q-tip)", but not the other way around.

Yes Natasha. "Oído" is male as a noun (it's also a past form of the verb "oir"). So it is "los oídos".
About the difference between orejas and oídos you are also right. This doesn't mean you may hear someone using these words in the other way, but that would be incorrect.

Is it not also the case that one uses (preferentially, if not exclusively) when referring to the ears as "instruments of hearing"? e.g. "tapar los oídos"

samdie said:

Is it not also the case that one uses (preferentially, if not exclusively) when referring to the ears as "instruments of hearing"? e.g. "tapar los oídos"

That's the way I've heard it used. I only hear orejas when people are talking about the bits of skin and cartilage that constitute an ear on the side of the head. As in "ÿl tiene las orejas enormes."

BTW, how would we say "My ear is plugged/stopped up"? Se me ha tapado el oído?

And how about "My ears just popped'" We say this, for example, when we move to a lower altitude and the pressure inside our ears adjusts suddenly, allowing us to hear more clearly.

I always thought the inner ear was "oído interno"

Eddy said:

I always thought the inner ear was "oído interno"

"Oído interno" is "inner ear", but that's behind the eardrum, after the vestibule. Strictly speaking, "oído" covers the inner, middle and outer ear, but in normal conversation, "oído" is only inside, and is rarely used for the pinna. In old fire weapons, the holes used to add the powder and the wick were also called "oídos".

I asked about:
*BTW, how would we say "My ear is plugged/stopped up"? Se me ha tapado el oído?

And how about "My ears just popped'" We say this, for example, when we move to a lower altitude and the pressure inside our ears adjusts suddenly, allowing us to hear more clearly.*

Since no one has ventured an answer, I'll try. Would "My ears just popped" be "Se me acaban de destapar los oídos"'

Gracias por todas las respuestas. Me gusta mucho saber que es los oídos, y ¡no tengo que aprender otra excepción a las reglas!

James Santiago said:

Since no one has ventured an answer, I'll try. Would "My ears just popped" be "Se me acaban de destapar los oídos"?

Yo diría "destaponar" más que "destapar", but it doesn't sound bad anyway.

lazarus1907 said:

James Santiago said:

Since no one has ventured an answer, I'll try. Would "My ears just popped" be "Se me acaban de destapar los oídos"?

Yo diría "destaponar" más que "destapar", but it doesn't sound bad anyway.

Thanks!

I asked the above question because I remember learning this in Japanese. It was my first real experience with what I call cultural gaps in learning a language. In America, it is quite common for people to say "My ears just popped" when driving down from the mountains, descending in an airplane, riding in an elevator, etc. When I asked my Japanese friends how to say this, they had a hard time answering, and their answers varied. This was frustrating to me, because I thought there had to be a set way to say such a common phrase. It turns out that it isn't common in Japanese. People normally just don't say anything at all. Therefore, there is a cultural gap between my English and Japanese. It was hard for me to accept that I had to learn not just words, grammar, pronunciation, etc., but also a new way of thinking and interacting with other people.

Ah, but that's the "fun-est" part!

samdie said:

Ah, but that's the "fun-est" part!

Indeed it is, once you get your mind wrapped around the concept. But even now, when I'm in a Japanese language situation, there is a part of my brain that screams for something to be uttered when someone sneezes, and all I hear is silence. The same thing happens in reverse when Americans start eating without saying anything first (itadakimasu).

James Santiago said:

samdie said:

Ah, but that's the "fun-est" part!

Indeed it is, once you get your mind wrapped around the concept. But even now, when I'm in a Japanese language situation, there is a part of my brain that screams for something to be uttered when someone sneezes, and all I hear is silence. The same thing happens in reverse when Americans start eating without saying anything first (itadakimasu).

sneeze -- That's just because someone is talking about the person; with none of the Western notion of it's providing an opportunity for the Devil to steal your soul.'''

Natasha said:

Gracias por todas las respuestas. Me gusta mucho saber que es los oídos, y ¡no tengo que aprender otra excepción a las reglas!

no tengo que aprender otra excepción a las reglas.....does that mean... I do not know other exceptions to the rules?

I read recently él agua is singular whereas the plural becomes las aguas because it makes the pronunciation easier. Does that gel'

Mark Baker said:

no tengo que aprender otra excepción a las reglas.....does that mean... I do not know other exceptions to the rules?

I read recently él agua is singular whereas the plural becomes las aguas because it makes the pronunciation easier. Does that gel?
!) No. Rather "I don't need to learn another exception to the rules.
2) That's sort of backwards. "agua" is feminine but it's "el agua" (in the singular) because that's easier to pronounce.