a little bird told me

Etymology
The etymology is en; 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, 10:20 in the Bible, the original Hebrew version of which is dated to 450–180, 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.”

Phrase

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

Usage notes
This phrase is often used more comically than seriously, especially when the source of the information is obvious to both parties but neither is willing to say, or because a custom calls for a pretence of secrecy or surprise.

Translations

 * Arabic: عُصْفُور صَغِير أَخْبَرَنِي
 * Basque: txori txiki batek esan zidan
 * Bulgarian: едно́ пти́ченце ми ка́за
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 私下聽說
 * Danish: høre en lille fugl synge om
 * Finnish: pikkulinnut lauloivat
 * French:
 * Georgian: ჩიტმა ამბავი მომიტანა
 * German: ein Vöglein hat mir gezwitschert
 * Greek: μου το 'πε ένα πουλάκι
 * Hebrew: ציפור קטנה לחשה לי
 * Hungarian: a verebek csiripelték, a kismadarak csiripelték
 * Icelandic: lítill fugl hvíslaði að mér, lítill fugl sagði mér
 * Italian: un uccellino mi ha detto che ...
 * Japanese: 小さな鳥が私に言った
 * Korean: 작은 새가 나에게 말했다.
 * Macedonian: едно врапче ми кажа
 * Maltese: għasfur żgħir qali
 * Norwegian:
 * Bokmål: en liten fugl hvisket meg i øret, en liten fugl sa det
 * Polish: ptaszki o tym ćwierkają
 * Portuguese: um passarinho me contou
 * Russian: мне́ пти́чка нашепта́ла, слу́хом земля́ по́лнится,
 * Serbo-Croatian:
 * Cyrillic: шапнула ми птичица
 * Roman: šapnula mi ptičica
 * Spanish: un pajarito me dijo, un pajarito me lo contó
 * Swedish: en liten fågel kvittrade i mitt öra
 * Turkish: kuşlar söyledi
 * Zazaki: mıriçıka va