/maˈtaɾ ˈdos ˈpaxaɾos de un ˈtiɾo/ lit. ‘kill two birds with one shot’
Spanish idiom, everyday. To get two things done with a single action.
Draft Not yet checked by a native Spanish speaker.
How do people use Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
?
Common in everyday speech and in writing, with no rudeness in it despite the killing. You’ll often hear it in the first person: “así mato dos pájaros de un tiro” (that way I kill two birds with one stone). “Tiro” is a shot from a gun or a sling, so the hunter in the Spanish picture is better armed than the English one.
Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
in real sentences
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Así mato dos pájaros de un tiro.
That way I kill two birds with one stone.
Tatoeba, sentence by Shishir, translation by Dejo, CC BY 2.0 FR
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Si lo pintas de amarillo, matarás dos pájaros de un tiro: resaltará, y ahorrarás dinero porque puedes usar pintura que ya tienes.
If you paint it yellow, you’ll kill two birds with one stone: it’ll stand out, and you’ll save money because you can use paint you already have.
Tatoeba, sentence by Shishir, translation by Dorenda, CC BY 2.0 FR
Where does Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
come from?
No one knows who said it first. Spanish Wiktionary quotes it from Benito Pérez Galdós’s novel Mendizábal (1898): “mato dos pájaros de un tiro”. The Real Academia dictionary, as cited by English Wiktionary, lists both “de un tiro” and “de una pedrada” (with a thrown stone). English Wiktionary says the English version was apparently first written by Bishop John Bramhall in 1646, but nothing we found connects the two.
Mistakes learners make with Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
Translating “stone” and saying “con una piedra”. The set phrase is “de un tiro” (with one shot), with “de”, not “con”.
Other Spanish idioms like Matar dos pájaros de un tiro
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