A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush

[tartanwiz]

What does this phrase actually mean and where does it come from? Thanks.

[bernardo]

It's better to have a little of something which you own than there to be a lot of something which you don't own and can't get to. Don't know about the origin though.

[andy hughes]

I think it originates from the days of hunting with falcons. A 'bird in the hand' - is a bird on its owner's wrist, which can be released when suitable prey appears. This has to be better than two birds 'in the bush' - or flying free, and out of sight in the ground bushes, and therefore beyond its handler's control.

[Jenny Tools]

I'd thought it referred to lovers on Hampstead Heath

[Quizmonster]

As to the origin, it is at least as old as the Greek writer, Plutarch, who wrote in the first century AD: "He is a fool who lets slip a bird in the hand for a bird in the bush."

[pauljam]

I was under the misconception that the adage was "A bird in the bush was worth two in the hand," which I never really understood :) Now I get it - it's better to have something than to want something that you can't see, because you never know what you might get (see Proust).