What do people think of a duck?

But have you ever heard of a "sitting duck"? I found this phrase in an article written by Tulsathit Tuptim, the Editor of The Nation, headlined, "Samak and the PPP are sitting ducks after court ruling".

This headline surely doesn't deal with a duck's behaviour. A sitting duck is a person or something that is an easy target for an enemy to shoot or attack. This comparison originated from duck hunting either for food or simply as a game.

Tulsathit uses this phrase to show what he thinks of the prime minister and the PPP after the ruling of the Constitutional Court; easy to attack.

Lighting the camp will make us a sitting duck if the traffickers are nearby.

And "lame duck"?

The phrase "lame duck" has many meanings, which generally refer to somebody who continues in their position during a time when they have no real authority in that position because their replacement has been selected; in other words a person with no power.

In a slightly different meaning, a lame duck is also a person who is inefficient, incapable or disabled.

A lame duck is also applied to a person or something that will be replaced with another person or something more efficient or economical.

And finally in a business context, a lame duck is a person who has lost a big amount of investment in speculations on the stock market.

This software is a lame duck and the company do not want to invest anymore to make it work; especially when we have already decided to buy a new one.

As soon as the new committee is approved, this current group of officials will automatically become a lame duck.

 More on this topic is a "dead duck"; we use this expression to refer to someone or something that has very little chance of being successful, mainly because of a bad judgment or mistake.

This campaign will be a dead duck if we rely on the support from the community only.

When you take to something like a duck to water you discover that you are naturally good at it and you like it.

It was amazing to see that Gabriel took to teaching like a duck to water.

And the last expression today about duck is when we say that something is like water off a duck's back; it has absolutely no effect on anything at all.

 Don't be upset with his comment; it is like water off a duck's back, really.

Complete the sentences using the expressions explained

1.  Since the new director general has been officially announced, Mr Charles is more or less a ...... waiting to be replaced.

2. The platoon was a ...... for the enemy because they were moving into an opening of the forest.

3. It was obvious that putting a ...... to lead the business would definitely make it fail; I warned you.

4. I have told them repeatedly not to deal drugs but it was ...... .

5. Tim has never been athletic so nobody expected that he would ......tennis ...... .

Answers: 1. lame duck, 2. sitting duck, 3. dead duck, 4. water off a duck's back, 5. take to… like a duck to water

By Parnsap Yomanage