As the Crow Flies

You may have noticed that crows have been in the news lately. New research is showing that these birds, which have always had a reputation for cleverness, may be even smarter than apes and monkeys. They are able to use tools, remember where they hide food, play tricks on each other, and even recognize human faces. Smart cookies! However, this week’s crow-related idiom doesn’t have anything to do with their intelligence. It is simply a reference to their ability to fly.

Even if crows are not quite as intelligent as humans, they do have us beat in one area: they are able to fly from Point A to Point B using the shortest route possible. If there is a big rocky hill in the way, or a forest full of thorn trees, we might have to walk around. A crow, however, would just fly over top. Therefore, the distance between one place and another along an imaginary straight line between them is called the distance as the crow flies. Of course there are many birds which would also use that route, but for some reason we always say, as the crow flies. Some birds fly in circles riding on thermals of hot air coming up from he ground, some birds flit from one flower to another, and many birds don’t fly at all. The crow flies in a straight line.

Because our highways and paths aren’t always in a straight line, there are different ways to calculate the distance between two places. For example, it may be five kilometres—or five clicks—along the path through the woods from my house to Grandma’s house. If we go by car, it may be six kilometres. But her house is actually only three kilometres away, as the crow flies.

Another way that we give distances is by the time it takes to get there. Out here on the prairies this is especially common. It makes you wonder if everyone has been brushing up on their Einstein. Physicists will try to explain how space and time are all part of the same continuum. Most people are thinking of something much more down to earth when they say that the next town is “one hour away.” They just mean that it will take one hour to get there by car. And yes, the car is the default instrument for measuring distances with time. If you are going to hoof it, or walk, then you need to specify that it is one hour away on foot.

Hopefully you can find an opportunity to use one of these distance-related idioms this week. If you see a crow, take the time to verify whether or not it is actually travelling in a straight line, as the crow flies.