proverb · Source-linked selection
If the partridge had the woodcock's thigh, It would be the best bird that ever did fly.
If the partridge had the woodcock's thigh, It would be the best bird that ever did fly.
Historical period not yet established
Understand the thought
Meaning in plain English
The saying imagines a partridge with a woodcock’s thigh as the best bird. It constructs an ideal by combining selected features of two creatures.
What the words are saying
If makes the praise depend on an imagined combination rather than an existing example. As an explicit analogy, someone may build a wishful ideal by joining qualities that do not actually occur together. The verse does not provide a verified ranking of birds or explain the standard of best. The useful reading notices the hypothetical condition before accepting the praise.
Everyday example
A group compares real options instead of judging all of them against a perfect combination it has only imagined.
When to use it
Use it as a stated analogy about hypothetical ideals.
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What it does not mean
The bird ranking and intended criterion are not independently verified here.
Agent-assisted editorial interpretation. This explains the words; it does not by itself verify their author or earliest origin.
Attribution & collection notes
- Author or tradition
- Traditional
Attribution: traditional - Country attributed
- Not established
A country attribution does not establish the earliest origin. - Historical period
- Historical period not yet established
No sufficiently supported historical placement has been established. Import and download dates are not treated as composition dates. - Recorded source
- A Dictionary of English Proverbs and Proverbial Phrases
Entry 1211 · Partridge
A collection's publication date can be later than the words it records.
- Culture
- English