One Idiom One Day: A little bird told me
I’d like to believe that a little birdie told you about my secret but I know exactly who it was that let you in on it.
It is used when a person is trying to hide the source of his information; a teasing manner of saying that you do not intend to unveil how you know something
Messenger birds and pigeons may have been the source for this phrase. It has been used in the Holy Bible too, Ecclesiastes 10:20. John Heywood explained a slightly different version in 1562 which was edited again in 1906. The phrase also appears in the Norse legend where Sigurd could hear and understand the birds after he slayed the dragon Fafnir. The birds warned him that Regin would kill him. Sir Richard Wagner also used birds instructing him to steal a helmet and ring through a small song. The communication of and with the birds is speculated as a source of origin or at least popularity of the phrase.
E.g., A little bird told me that it is your birthday today.
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