A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.
Meaning: a small advantage actually held is better than a larger potential advantage.
The earliest written usage in its current form is in the Compleat British Songster, 1781, in a song wherein the female speaker declares that she will be faithful and loving to the man who has asked her to marry, that she cares not for the other swains in that “One bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.” The word “bird” in this context means girl or woman, a usage dating back to the 14th century. Variations of the saying date back to the 13th century. The Latin Bible at Ecclesiastes 9:4 states “A living dog is better than a dead lion”, this being recorded as such in Wycliffe’s version of the Bible. A 1546 collection of proverbs records “Better one word in hand than ten in the wood.” Many medieval pubs (some still existing) were named “The Bird in the Hand” as a reference to falconry, the bird in the hand being the falcon and the two in the bush being the prey.
