a little bird told me

短语

私下听说

发音

UK /ə ˌlɪtl̩ bɜːd ˈtəʊld miː/
AU
US /ə ˌlɪt(ə)l bɜɹd ˈtoʊld mi/
US /-ˌlɪɾ(ə)l-/

释义与例句

phr.
  1. 1.

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

    私下听说

    幽默 习语

    Let’s just say I know because a little bird told me.

词源

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.”

来源：wiktionary