To Take Flight
To me, the expression “to take flight”—when not referring to winged creatures or flying machines—has always meant to run away or to flee.
Armies take flight from a more powerful adversary.
Refugees take flight from dangerous conditions.
Criminals take flight from the police.
A new one on me
Because “to flee” is the only meaning I have ever attached to the idiom “to take flight,” I totally misinterpreted the following headline that I saw in the New YorkTimes the other morning:
She Was Covering President Biden.
He Was Protecting Him.
Love Took Flight.
Misplaced sympathy
I interpreted the headline to mean that a woman—probably a journalist—and a man—probably a security guard—were in love but, because of their professional duties, had found it necessary to end their romance. How sad, I thought.
Was I ever wrong!
The article under the headline was about a news producer and a fighter pilot who were in St. Croix because the former president was vacationing there. They met on the beach and fell in love.
In this context, “took flight” meant something like “was engendered.” I soon found a second example in the Times:
Love Took Flight With Birds of a Feather.
The article under this one was about two birdwatchers who fell in love over their shared interest.
A 1000+ year history
The word flight has been with us since the Old English period (450-1150). The earliest use of the expression, “to take flight,” in the sense of fleeing, dates to 1225.
The earliest example I found of “love took flight” is in the play, The Merry Devil of Edmonton (c.1602) [The person being addressed is Sir Arthur Clare.]
…at first I knew
What you intended, ere your love took flight
From old Mounchensey…
In this context, two friends have fallen out. Sir Arthur was previously very fond of “old Mounchensey,” but when they disagreed about a marriage between their children, Sir Arthur’s love for his former friend “took flight.”
In this case, the expression meant what I thought it meant in the Times headline.
Love departed, went away.
Nowadays, not just love takes flight
In addition to its romantic use in the Times, “to take flight” is extremely popular with the business community. The expression proliferates in book titles and on business blogs and has the connotation of success or succeeding.
Taking Flight: Transform your business and get better results
Making Ideas take flight
Taking Flight: The Entrepreneurs Journey Podcast
Take Flight Business Solutions
Chicken-renting business takes flight
Two years ago this month our little business took flight.
Taking flight since the 1980s
According to the Google Ngram Viewer, the expression “took flight” began a dramatic rise in the 1980s. I’m guessing that the increase in usage reflects the growing popularity of the idiom as business jargon.
Am I the only English-speaker who hadn’t heard that love taking flight is now a good thing?
