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A little bird told meMeaningI was told by a private or secret source. OriginThe text 'a little bird told me' doesn't appear in any version of the Bible, but the root source of this expression probably is biblical, from Ecclesiastes 10-20 (King James Version):
Various authors over the centuries, including Shakespeare, have made reference to birds, feathered or otherwise, giving messages. The first that comes close to our current version of this phrase is Frederick Marryat, in Peter Simple, 1833:
See other phrases and sayings from Shakespeare.
Tudor Phrases and Sayings - a book on the meanings and origins of the phrases and sayings that Shakespeare and Henry VIII used that we use still use every day. |