| 词源 |
a little bird told me. One scholar suggests that this familiar saying may have originated with the similar-sounding Dutch expression Er lif t’el baerd, which means “I should betray anoth- er.” More likely the idea behind the phrase is in the noiseless flight of a bird, reinforced by a biblical passage from Eccles. 10:20: “Curse not the kind, no not in thy thought, . . . for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.” Used by Shakespeare and Swift, the expression dates back to at least the 16th century. |