Languagle #17: English
A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush
"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."
What it means
Something you already have is worth more than something better that you might not get. A bird you are holding is certain; two birds in a bush could still fly away. The idea is old and turns up in many languages, from Latin to Hungarian.
Where it was found
In print since at least 1678, when John Bunyan used it in The Pilgrim's Progress. Older versions, with different numbers of birds, go back much further.
Similar sayings
- Spanish: Más vale pájaro en mano que ciento volando. A bird in the hand is worth more than a hundred flying.
- Czech: Lepší vrabec v hrsti než holub na střeše. Better a sparrow in the fist than a pigeon on the roof.
How to recognise English
English uses the plain Latin alphabet with no accents at all, which already rules out most of its neighbours. Look for th, which shows up constantly (the, that, with), sh, wh and silent letters like the k in 'know'. Scots looks like English with different spelling, such as 'suin' for soon and 'ken' for know.
About the English language
English is a West Germanic language, first carried to Britain by Anglo-Saxon settlers in the 5th century and reshaped by Norse and, after 1066, Norman French. It now has around 400 million native speakers and is the most widely learned second language in the world. Its spelling is famously irregular because it was largely fixed before the Great Vowel Shift had finished changing how the words were pronounced.
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