a little bird
1
8.5
- idiom
- Informal
:
un pajarito
- 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 you and she have been friends for a while.
-
Something that a little bird told me is that primary timings might not be as much of a concern.
-
A little bird mentioned that you have a new job.
Synonyms
You say this when you hear something but do not say who told you
Surface Forms
Morphology
a + little + bird
The literal meanings of 'a', 'little' and 'bird' do not convey the idea of an unnamed or secret informant; the phrase 'a little bird told me' is an idiomatic convention whose meaning cannot be composed from the parts. Even though similar expressions exist in other languages, the conventionalized metaphor must be learned, so a B1 learner who only knows the constituent words would not reliably infer the idiomatic meaning.
Etymology
The expression a little bird comes from the image of a small bird acting like a secret messenger. Imagine a tiny bird that hears news and flies to tell you, and that's why saying a little bird means you 'received information from a secret or unknown source'.