Idiom
a little bird told me
Meaning
I received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“A little bird told me you got the job.”
“When she asked how I knew about the surprise party, I just said a little bird told me.”
“A little bird told me that the merger was imminent, though I could not reveal my source within the company.”
Examples
simple
“A little bird told me you got the job.”
contextual
“When she asked how I knew about the surprise party, I just said a little bird told me.”
complex
“A little bird told me that the merger was imminent, though I could not reveal my source within the company.”
Origin
The concept of an avian informant is recorded in English sources from at least 1546. It suggests a certain lack of privacy that has long been a feature of the language, predating modern surveillance by several centuries.
Earlier precedents exist in other languages, most notably in the Bible. The King James Version of Ecclesiastes 10:20 warns against indiscretion, advising the reader: “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought; and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” The original Hebrew text from which this passage is derived is dated to between 450 and 180 B.C.E.
While the specific idiom remains of unknown etymology, the underlying principle is consistent. One is encouraged to remain silent, lest a passing creature of the air finds the information portable and the authorities find it interesting.
Key words
Related idioms
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