Sunday, December 12, 2010

Tell it to the birds: 1860

Lovers have a rage for talking of their martyrdom. Rather than be silent, they would tell it to the birds that fly, or the cloud which passes.

--From Catherine--

According to Google Books, the phrase made its way into the English language via a translation of a French novel. It seems to have taken awhile for it to gain the tone of sarcasm with which we associate it today.

2 comments:

chickelit said...

Sounds tweet-worthy!

Trooper York said...

A heard from an angry blue jay.

Nothing from the crow or the tom turkey though.