Idiom
a little bit of bread and no cheese
Meaning
Used to represent the song of the yellowhammer (Emberiza citrinella).
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The bird sings a little bit of bread and no cheese.”
“Listen closely to the yellowhammer as it sings a little bit of bread and no cheese.”
“In the quiet of the meadow, the yellowhammer repeats its distinct song, a little bit of bread and no cheese, throughout the afternoon.”
Examples
simple
“The bird sings a little bit of bread and no cheese.”
contextual
“Listen closely to the yellowhammer as it sings a little bit of bread and no cheese.”
complex
“In the quiet of the meadow, the yellowhammer repeats its distinct song, a little bit of bread and no cheese, throughout the afternoon.”
Origin
Onomatopoeic; the bird’s song is thought to resemble the rhythm of the phrase.
Key words
Related idioms
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