Eavesdropping

Question for all of you.  Why do they call it eavesdropping when you listen in on other people's conversations?  An eave, after all, is the overhang of a roof.  So literally speaking, you are dropping the hanging over bit of a roof, not listening in.  How eaves are connected to someone's ears is truly a mystery to me.  Unless it has to do with the overhang bit (not to be confused with a hang over which is a totally different ball of wax) - you know, overhang, overhear, over there, over and out - you get the drift.  Why would anyone want to drop their eaves in the first place?  Do they not like that hanging over bit?  Why or why not?  What happens if it's not there.  Where does one put one's eavestrophs then?  Are they attached directly to the roof so that water doesn't run down the side of the house and into the basement or whatever part of the house meets the ground?  When eaves hit the ground do they make a sound or are they quiet, like flowers and leaves from trees?  How do we know this?  Is this a "tree falls in the forest does anyone hear" kind of question?  Personally, I've never dropped an eave so I have no idea if it makes a noise when it hits the ground or not.  I DO, however, tend to listen in on other people's conversations.  Not usually on purpose, but just because there are times that no matter how hard I might try (and I emphasize the word might) I just can't avoid it.  Take my neighbour (please) for example.  She has the unfortunate curse of having a high pitched, whiny voice much like a mosquito.  It's very hard not to listen in on her conversations since it is at a pitch high enough to make anyone's ears perk up or be pierced (and I already have pierced ears so don't need any more thankyouverymuch). It seems that the conversations I hear the most are the ones where one person has a voice that carries, making it hard to ignore. While I don't often hear her conversations, sometimes it's unavoidable, and not very interesting.  There are more interesting conversations to overhear when riding on the bus, the tube in London (though most people on the tube are generally in a state of sonambulism so not much conversation there), the airport or train station, and my all time favourite, the coffee shop.  This works really well when I'm writing and stuck for things my characters might say.  So I guess you could say my listening in serves a purpose (though how useful is another matter).  And I promise I won't drop any eaves on anyone anytime soon.  Until next time.