Apparently coined by Dr. John Bramhall, Bishop of Derry, in a 1646 letter to Thomas Hobbes, later published in 1656.[ 1]
Compare earlier stop two gaps with one bush
kill two birds with one stone third-person singular simple present kills two birds with one stone present participle killing two birds with one stone simple past and past participle killed two birds with one stone
( idiomatic ) problems with one single action.
Biking to work kills two birds with one stone . It saves money travelling and will help to lose weight.
solve two problems at once
Afrikaans: twee vlieë met een klap slaan (af) ( literally “ to hit two flies in one slap ” )
Arabic: ضَرَب عُصْفُورَيْن بِحَجَر وَاحِد ( ḍarab ʕuṣfūrayn bi-ḥajar wāḥid , literally “ to hit two sparrows with one stone ” )
Armenian: մի գնդակով երկու նապաստակ խփել (hy) ( mi gndakov erku napastak xpʻel )
Azerbaijani: bir güllə ilə iki dovşan vurmaq
Bengali: এক ঢিলে দুই পাখি মারা (bn) ( ek ḍhile dui pakhi mara )
Breton: lazhañ div voualc'h gant ur maen (br)
Bulgarian: да убиеш с един куршум два заека ( da ubieš s edin kuršum dva zaeka , literally “ to kill two rabbits with one bullet ” )
Burmese: တစ်ချက်ခုတ် နှစ်ချက်ပြတ် ( tachkyakhkut hnachkyakprat )
Catalan: matar dos pardals d'un tret matar dos ocells d'un tret
Chinese:
Cantonese: 一石二鳥 ／ 一石二鸟 ( jat1 sek6 ji6 niu5 ) , 一箭雙鵰 ／ 一箭双雕 ( jat1 zin3 soeng1 diu1 ) , 一雞兩味 ／ 一鸡两味 ( jat1 gai1 loeng5 mei6-2 ) , 一舉兩得 ／ 一举两得 ( jat1 geoi2 loeng5 dak1 )
Mandarin: 一石二鳥 ／ 一石二鸟 (zh) ( yī shí èr niǎo , literally “ one stone, two birds ” ) , 一箭雙雕 ／ 一箭双雕 (zh) ( yī jiàn shuāng diāo ) , 一舉兩得 ／ 一举两得 (zh) ( yī jǔ liǎng dé )
Czech: zabít dvě mouchy jednou ranou
Danish: slå to fluer med et smæk (da)
Dutch: twee vliegen in een klap slaan
Esperanto: trafi du celojn per unu ŝtono (eo) ( literally “ to hit two targets with one stone ” )
Estonian: tapma kaks kärbest ühe hoobiga ( literally “ to kill two flies in one slap ” )
Finnish: tappaa kaksi kärpästä yhdellä iskulla
French: faire d’une pierre deux coups (fr)
Georgian: ერთი გასროლით ორი კურდღლის მოკვლა ( erti gasrolit ori ḳurdɣlis moḳvla )
German: zwei Fliegen mit einer Klappe schlagen (de)
Greek: με ένα σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια ( me éna smpáro dyo trygónia , literally “ with one shot, two pigeons ” ) , μ' ένα σμπάρο δυο τρυγόνια ( m' éna smpáro dyo trygónia )
Hebrew: לתפוס שתי ציפורים במכה אחת
Hindi: एक पंथ दो काज ( ek panth do kāj )
Hungarian: két legyet üt egy csapásra (hu)
Icelandic: slá tvær flugur í einu höggi
Indonesian: sekali mendayung, dua-tiga pulau terlampaui ( literally “ to reach two-three islands with one rowing stroke ” )
Irish: dhá éan a mharú leis an urchar amháin
Italian: prendere due piccioni con una fava
Japanese: 一石二鳥 (ja) ( いっせきにちょう, isseki ni chō ) , 一挙両得 (ja) ( ikkyo ryōtoku )
Kazakh: бір оқпен екі қоян ату ( bır oqpen ekı qoän atu , literally “ to kill two birds with one shot ” )
Khmer: please add this translation if you can
Korean: 일석이조(一石二鳥) (ko) ( ilseog-ijo )
Kurdish:
Central Kurdish: بە بەردێک دوو چۆلەکە بکوژە ( be berdêk dû çoleke bikuje )
Latin: Duo parietes de eadem fidelia dealbare ( literally “ to whitewash two walls out of the same bucket ” ) (Cicero , Ad Familiares
Latvian: nošaut divus zaķus ar vienu šāvienu ( literally “ to shoot two bunnies with one shot ” )
Lithuanian: vienu šūviu nušauti du zuikius ( literally “ to shoot two rabbits with one shot ” )
Luxembourgish: zwou Mécken op ee Schlag kréien
Malay: sambil menyelam minum air
Mongolian: нэг сумаар хоёр туулай буудах ( neg sumaar xojor tuulaj buudax )
Norwegian:
Bokmål: slå to fluer i en smekk (no) ( literally “ to hit two flies in one slap ” )
Nynorsk: slå to fluger i ein smekk ( literally “ to hit two flies in one slap ” )
Persian: با یک تیر دو نشان زدن ( bâ yek tir do nešân zadan )
Polish: upiec dwie pieczenie na jednym ogniu (pl)
Portuguese: matar dois coelhos com uma cajadada só
Romanian: omorî două muște dintr-o lovitură ( literally “ to hit two flies in one slap ” ) , împușca doi iepuri dintr-un foc
Russian: уби́ть одни́м вы́стрелом двух за́йцев pf ( ubítʹ odním výstrelom dvux zájcev )
Serbo-Croatian:
Cyrillic: убити једним ударцем двије мухе
Roman: ùbiti jèdnīm ùdārcem dvȉje mùhe
Sinhalese: එක ගලෙන් කුරුල්ලෝ දෙන්නයි ( eka galen kurullō dennayi , literally “ two birds by one stone ” )
Spanish: matar dos pájaros de un tiro (es)
Swedish: slå två flugor i en smäll (sv)
Telugu: ఒకేదెబ్బకు రెండు పిట్టలు ( okēdebbaku reṇḍu piṭṭalu )
Thai: ยิงปืนนัดเดียวได้นกสองตัว ( ying bpeun nát dieow dâai nók sŏng dtua )
Turkish: bir taşla iki kuş vurmak (tr)
Ukrainian: вби́ти двох зайці́в одни́м по́стрілом ( vbýty dvox zajcív odným póstrilom , literally “ kill two hares in one shot ” )
Vietnamese: một công đôi việc một công đôi chuyện nhất cử lưỡng tiện (vi) , nhất tiễn song điêu (vi) , một mũi tên trúng hai đích
Welsh: lladd dau aderyn â'r un garreg lladd dau aderyn ag un ergyd lladd dwy frân ag un ergyd
Yiddish: שיסן צוויי האָזן מיט איין שאָס ( shisn tsvey hozn mit eyn shos ) , כאַפּן צען סאָראָקעס בײַ איין וויידל ( khapn tsen sorokes bay eyn veydl )
^ Sir William Molesworth, Bart. (1841), “The Questions Concerning Liberty, Necessity, and Chance”, in English Works of Thomas Hobbes of Malmesbury, The; London: John Bohn, Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, p. 25.