We spent a little too much time trying to discover an alternative to saying “KILL TWO BIRDS WITH ONE STONE!”
UPDATE: April 25, 2022 – “Free two (2) birds from one cage!” (poetic!)
The primary motivation is that this aged saying no longer reflects the positive intention of productivity + expediency + alignment + execution of a goal, task, campaign, tactic, etc. hitting its mark with two missions solved. And, yes, we intend to be a little less violent in our business communication too!
How amazing to discover that in the Phillipines, the English translation of this Tagalogian saying is quite poetic.
Sa isang paraan ay lutas agad ang dalawa.
In just one strike there is a solution for two.
When asked on a forum board 10 years ago here are the responses that quickly came from around the word. Discover the cultural/geographical differences!
In Russia:
We kill two hares in one shot (убить одним выстрелом двух зайцев)
In Portuguese:
matar dois pássaros com uma cajadada só (to kill two birds with a single staff stroke).
Polish:
upiec dwie pieczenie na jednym ogniu (to roast two roasts (pieczeń is a piece of roasted meat) at the same fire)
Spanish:
matar dos pájaros de un tiro (to kill two birds with one stone)
Catalan:
matar dos ocells d’un tret (to kill two birds with one stone)
In Hebrew:
לתפוס שתי ציפורים במכה אחת (litfos shtei tsiporim be’maka akhat) – to catch two birds with one hit.
In Greek:
Μ’ ένα σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια
Mena zbaro ðʝo triɣoɲa
literally, “with one shot [from the Italian, sparo], two turtle doves [‘are killed’ is implied]”
Serbian:
ubiti dve muve jednim udarcem – (literally) to kill two flies in one slap
Jamaican Creole:
Siem naif we tek tik shiip tik guot. (To stab the goat and the sheep with the same knife)
En français :
Faire d’une pierre deux coups.
Kill two birds with one stone.
In Dutch we have:
Twee vliegen in een klap.
Two flies with one hit.
In Finnish:
tappaa kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla (= to kill two flies with one strike)
In Italy we say:
“prendere due piccioni con una fava” (literally: to catch two pigeons with one bean)
In Argentina we say:
Tiro sería Shot ( of a gun) en Piedra ( stone )
Japanese:
一石二鳥 (issekinichō)
[throwing] One stone, [and get] two birds.
In Romanian:
Să împuşti/omori doi iepuri dintr-un foc.
We kill two hares in one shot (same as Russian)
In Indonesian:
sekali merengkuh dayung, dua, tiga pulau terlampaui
(with one row, two, three islands are passed)
Sambil menyelam minum air
(while diving, drinking water)
In German:
Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klatsche treffen.
(Literally: To kill two flies with one fly flap. It means with one blow.)
In Slovenian:
Ubiti dve muhi na en mah. > To kill two flies at once.
In Chinese:
We use the same meaning just like Russian use, we say 一石二鸟（or 一箭双雕）It means “kill two birds with just one stone”, the same with russians. And the second mean “kill two eagles with only one arrow”, it means the same.
Croatian:
To kill two files at once . ubiti dvije muhe odjednom
In Česky: Zabít dvě mouchy jednou ranou.
Deutsch: Zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen.
English: To kill two birds with one stone.
In Tamil,
With one stone two mangoes (Ore kallil irandu maangaai)
In Esperanto,
we say either bati du muŝojn per unu bato (to hit to flies with one stroke) or pafi samtempe du leporojn (to shoot two hares at the same time).
In Persian:
ba yek tir do neshan zadan با یک تیر دو نشان زدن
hitting two bull-eye by one arrow
In Tagalog (25% of Phillipines speak Tagalog after Filipino)
Sa isang paraan ay lutas agad ang dalawa.
(In just one strike there is a solution for two.)
In Vietnamese
” Một mũi tên trúng hai đích” = “kill two birds with one stone”
Express the idea of doing two things at one time.
