Birds and Stones

[curious81]

Where does the saying "to kill two birds with one stone" come from?

[jno]

http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/Phrases-and-Say ings/Word-Origins/Question426402.html

[VS Prasad]

"Achieve two objectives with a single effort. It would be remarkable indeed if someone slinging a stone at a bird got one bird, let alone two. Ovid had a similar expression in L*tin nearly 2,000 years ago. Related phrases were in English and French literature by the 16th century. Thomas Hobbes used the modern version in a work on liberty in 1656: 'T. H. thinks to kill two birds with one stone, and satisfy two arguments with one answer.'" "Dictionary of Cliches" by James Rogers (Wings Books, Originally New York: Facts on File Publications, 1985).

(idiomatic) To solve two problems at once.
Biking to work on a nice day kills two birds with one stone.

"It makes both my commute and my workout more enjoyable".

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Kill_two_birds_w ith_one_stone

to achieve two aims with a single effort: "She killed two birds with one stone by shopping and visiting the museum on the same trip".

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=kill+ two+birds+with+one+stone&r=66

To accomplish two objectives with a single action.

http://www.bartleby.com/59/4/killtwobirds.html

Idiom:

Achieve two ends with a single effort, as in As long as I was in town on business, I thought I'd kill two birds and visit my uncle too. This expression is so well known that it is often shortened.

http://www.answers.com/kill%20two%20birds%20wi th%20one%20stone