As the crow flies
Idiom meaning the shortest distance between two points
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Etymology
The meaning of the expression is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in the Charles Dickens novel Oliver Twist (1838):[1][2]
"We cut over the fields at the back with him between us – straight as the crow flies – through hedge and ditch."[1]
While crows do conspicuously fly alone across open country, they do not fly in especially straight lines.[3] While crows do not swoop in the air like swallows or starlings, they often circle above their nests.[3]
One suggested origin of the term is that before modern navigational methods were introduced, cages of crows were kept upon ships and a bird would be released from the crow's nest when required to assist navigation, in the hope that it would fly directly towards land.[1] However, the earliest recorded uses of the term are not nautical in nature, and the crow's nest of a ship is thought to derive from its shape and position rather than its use as a platform for releasing crows.[1] It has also been suggested that crows would not travel well in cages, as they fight if confined.[4]
