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Glite Dictionary
a little bird told me

a little bird told me

8.1
You say this when you hear something but do not say who told you
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : un pajarito me dijo
  • Something that a little bird told me is that primary timings might not be as much of A concern.

Examples

  • A little bird told me that the surprise party is on Saturday.

  • I can't reveal my source, but a little bird told me that the company is planning to expand.

  • When I asked about the rumors, she just smiled and said a little bird told me.

Synonyms

a little bird
vsa little bird told me
  • Informal
1 8.5

Someone told the speaker something without saying who

is used to claim the speaker heard the information while hiding the source

Surface Forms

a little bird told me main

Morphology

a + little + bird + tell + me

The verb phrase 'told me' clearly indicates being informed, so a learner who knows the words could infer that someone provided the information. However, 'a little bird' is a conventional metaphorical agent whose role (an anonymous or secret source) is not transparently derivable from the literal words; cross-linguistic parallels exist which can aid recognition but the full pragmatic meaning is not fully predictable.

Etymology

A little bird told me comes from an old idea that small birds bring secret news. Imagine a tiny bird whispering in your ear, and people used that image when they did not want to say who told them, so it means 'I heard this from someone but I won't say who'.