As the crow flies - Wikipedia As the crow flies A crow flying For other uses, see As the Crow Flies ( disambiguation ). As the crow flies, similar to in a beeline, is an idiom for the most direct path between two points. This meaning is attested from the early 19th century, and appeared in Charles Dickens 's novel Oliver Twist : We cut over the fields at the back with him between us -- straight as the crow flies -- through hedge and ditch. According to BBC Focus, `` ' As the crow flies ' is a pretty common saying but it is n't particularly accurate ''. Crows do not swoop in the air like swallows or starlings, but they often circle above their nests. Crows do conspicuously fly alone across open country, but neither crows nor bees ( as in `` beeline '' ) fly in particularly straight lines. Before modern navigational methods were introduced, Crows were kept upon ships and released when land was sought. Crows instinctively fly towards land. ( See the sea - Nautical language. ) Contents 1 See also 2 References 3 Further reading 4 External links See also Geodesic Great - circle distance References ^ Jump up to : Allen, Robert ( 2008 ). Allen 's Dictionary of English Phrases. Penguin UK. ISBN 9780141917689. Jump up ^ Knowles, Elizabeth ( 2006 ). The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Oxford University Press, UK. ISBN 9780191578564. ^ Jump up to : Villazon, Luis. `` Do crows actually fly in a straight line ? '', BBC Focus ( August 30, 2017 ). Jump up ^ http://see-the-sea.org/nautical/naut-body.htm Further reading Dundes, Alan ( 2004 ). `` As the Crow Flies : A Straightforward Study of Lineal Worldview in American Folk Speech ''. In Lau, Kimberley J. ; et al. What Goes Around Comes Around : The Circulation of Proverbs in Contemporary Life. Utah State University Press. pp. 171 -- 187. ISBN 978 - 0 - 87421 - 592 - 2. Winfield, Charles H. ( 1882 ). Adjudged Words and Phrases : Being a Collection of Adjudicated Definitions of Terms Used in the Law, with References to Authorities. Jersey City, NJ : J.J. Griffiths. p. 45. OCLC 3364516. External links Look up as the crow flies in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. `` As the crow flies '' The Phrase Finder. `` As the crow flies '' World Wide Words. This vocabulary - related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=As_the_crow_flies&oldid=835709035 '' Categories : English phrases Navigation English - language idioms Vocabulary and usage stubs Talk Navigation Contents About Wikipedia Dansk Deutsch Español Français Bahasa Melayu Suomi Svenska Tiếng Việt Edit links This page was last edited on 10 April 2018, at 09 : 15. About Wikipedia

Question: where does the expression as the crow flies come from
Answer: Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist; Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist