Idiom with "duck"

Idiom with “duck”

Written by Lilian Ndongmo. ESL Teacher

Water on a duck’s back

This is one idiom I had the opportunity of using a few days ago. My sentence was:

“I don’t give these kinds of advice to just anyone. For some people, it’s like throwing water on a duck’s back.”

Have you ever tried to pour water on a duck? …..No? Good. Let’s try a little experiment.

You need:

– One duck, or one bird (chicken, pigeon, quail), preferably a live one.

– One  basin, big enough to hold the bird

-One glass of water, preferably cold

Procedure:

  1. Put the duck or bird in the basin
  2. Pour the water in the glass on the duck’s feathers.

Result:

What did you notice? Did the duck’s feathers soak up the water? If your answer is “no”, you got it right!

No matter how much water you pour on the duck, the water won’t stick. It’s useless. This is exactly what this idiom means.

Meaning

Water on a duck’s back means

-an action is useless

-a waste of time

-something is worthless

-something has no effect

Alternative

You can also use “like water off a duck’s back” with no difference in meaning.

Examples:

  1. I have told Robert many times not to cross the road when the traffic light is red, but he doesn’t listen. I’m just throwing water on a duck’s back.
  2. You can insult me all you like. It’s like water off a duck’s back to me.
  3. Trying to make water stick on a bird’s feathers is like throwing water on a duck’s back. You’re just wasting your time. It’ll just shake the water off. 

Have a great week!