Definitions
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- adjective simile, colloquial Without
immediate orlasting effects . - adverb simile, colloquial In a manner which has no effect;
immediately and without causing anydifference .
Etymologies
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Examples
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dario commented on the word like water off a duck's back
It's about something that isn't worth doing.. In other words: pointless
April 30, 2010
chained_bear commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Hmm... that's not the meaning I've heard used with this phrase. It seems like it would mean something that's really easy to do (like falling off a log) or smoothly accomplished without much effort. But I suppose it could mean any of several things.
April 30, 2010
thtownse commented on the word like water off a duck's back
I agree with chained bear. It is easy because water does not absorb into a duck's feathers - thus they dry, even in milk!
April 30, 2010
milosrdenstvi commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Strange, because the general use I know for this idiom is a third one still -- when something said with hurtful intend does not bother the person it is addressed to; rather, because of either the inconsequence of the insult or the imperturbability of the addressee, it is "like water off a duck's back".
April 30, 2010
chained_bear commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Yes, Milos, I've heard that meaning also--an insult that doesn't sting is something that is inconsequential or easy, hence...
What's this about feathers in milk?
April 30, 2010
hernesheir commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Unfazed. Unmoved.
April 30, 2010
thtownse commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Stays crunchy. Even in milk.
April 30, 2010
pterodactyl commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Well, I'll just chime in with a fourth meaning for this idiom. I've heard this phrase used to refer to any situation in which an individual is unfazed by some unpleasant turn of events. You could say, for instance, "Hubert is such a cheerful fellow that when we told him his Ming vase had been crushed by a falling anvil, the bad news just rolled off him like water off a duck's back."
Milos's meaning is one particular case of this larger meaning, the case in which the unpleasantry happens to be an insult.
I've never heard c_b's meaning or dario's meaning 'round these parts.
April 30, 2010
chained_bear commented on the word like water off a duck's back
Well, crunch my feathers! What an interesting idiom this is turning out to be. Quack!!
April 30, 2010