a little bird told me

Definition

I received the information from a source which I am not prepared to disclose.

Etymology

The etymology is unknown; in English sources, references to birds passing along information to people date back to at least the 16th century (see the 1546 quotation), and in other languages even earlier. For example, Ecclesiastes 10:20 in the Bible, the original Hebrew version of which is dated to 450–180 B.C.E., states according to the King James Version (spelling modernized): “Curse not the king, no not in thy thought, and curse not the rich in thy bed-chamber: for a bird of the air shall carry the voice, and that which hath wings shall tell the matter.”

Example Sentences

• "Let’s just say I know because a little bird told me."
• "[…] I did lately heere, / How fleck and his make use their secret haunting, / By one byrd, that in myne eare was late chaunting."
• "I vvil lay ods, that ere this yeere expire, / VVe beare our ciuil ſvvords and natiue fier, / As farre as France, I heard a bird ſo ſing,[…]"