butterfly

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butterfly often taken as the type of a fragile and ephemeral creature (as in break of Chancery).
butterfly effect the effect of a very small change in the initial conditions of a system which makes a significant difference to the outcome; the term derives from the title of a paper (1979) by the American meteorologist Edward Lorenz (1917– ), ‘Predictability: Does the flap of a butterfly's wings in Brazil set off a tornado in Texas?’
float like a butterfly, sting like a bee the summary of the boxing strategy of Muhammad Ali (1942– , born Cassius Clay), probably originated by his aide Drew ‘ Bundini’ Brown.

See also break of Chancery.

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