🪨 Kill Two Birds with One Stone, To 🕊️
This idiom means achieving two goals with a single effort. Although the idea dates from Roman times, and while it may be unlikely to kill two birds by shooting off a single rock, the phrase we use today appeared around 1600.
📖 Thomas Hobbes wrote, “T. H. thinks to kill two birds with one stone, and satisfy two arguments with one answer” (Liberty, 1656). John Ray offered a less violent and more feasible alternative: “to kill two flies with one flap” (Proverbs, 1678), but it never quite caught on.
🏅 Related and Similar Terms:
- Hit the ground running: Start a task energetically and effectively.
- Double whammy: A situation with two negative outcomes.
- Two birds with one stone: Common abbreviation of our featured idiom.
- One fell swoop: Doing something in one decisive action.
Witty Quotes:
- “Why kill two birds with one stone when you can hit three squirrels with a single acorn?” - Unknown wit
- “Tim multitasks so well, he makes ‘killing two birds with one stone’ look like child’s play.” - Daily Humor Digest
Literature, Books, and Screen:
📚 Charles Dickens, David Copperfield: A master of combining sly idioms with rich storytelling. 🎥 Miss Congeniality: Sandra Bullock’s character often radiates clever multitasking abilities. 🎵 The Beatles’ song Paperback Writer: Images of achieving writing success in a single sweep.
🎬 Intriguing & Educational Tidbits:
Consider watching The Karate Kid (1984), where Mr. Miyagi’s “wax on, wax off” technique is an excellent example of an efficient yet unexpected multitasking approach.
Thus, remember to always look for smart ways to solve multiple tasks in your daily endeavors, because being efficient not only saves you time but often sparks creative solutions too!
© A. Geoffrey Wordsmith, 2023. May your life’s endeavors always find dual-purpose!
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