Let's call a duck a duck (2024)

P

Parinaz

Member

Persia

Persian

  • Jan 22, 2024
  • #1

Hello! Could someone please tell me what this sentence means?:
"Let's call a duck a duck if it's quacks. Shall we?"
I dont get the meaning.
I would be thankful🙏🏻

  • dojibear

    Senior Member

    Fresno CA

    English (US - northeast)

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #2

    Parinaz said:

    Let's call a duck a duck if it's quacks. Shall we?

    The more common phrase (with the same meaning) is this:

    If it looks like a duck, walks like a duck, and quacks: it's a duck.

    In both cases, the meaning is this:

    Don't use a euphemism or fancy wording. Say what it is.

    This might be said in a situation where someone is using euphemisms.

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #3

    It’s a version of the (400-year-old) expression “call a spade a spade”,* which means to be honest and direct about things, not be afraid to call something what it really is (

    Call a spade a spade - Wikipedia

    ).

    As dojibear says, this is conflated with a more recent common expression that goes something like:
    If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it is a duck!

    So, in short, the OP sentence simply means: Let’s not beat about the bush here.

    *Let's call a duck a duck (3) To be avoided in the US, where it risks being misconstrued as offensive, because of a taboo meaning of the word spade in American English!

    Last edited:

    natkretep

    Moderato con anima (English Only)

    Singapore

    English (Singapore/UK), basic Chinese

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #4

    Parinaz, where did you encounter this? I can understand the expression, but it's not something I would say. I'm more likely to say 'call a spade a spade'. Ngrams suggests that this is much more common than 'call a duck a duck' even in AmE.

    Crossposted.

    Roxxxannne

    Senior Member

    American English (New England and NYC)

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #5

    lingobingo said:

    It’s a version of the (400-year-old) expression “call a spade a spade”,* which means to be honest and direct about things, not be afraid to call something what it really is (

    Call a spade a spade - Wikipedia

    ).

    As dojibear says, this is conflated with a more recent common expression that goes something like:
    If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, chances are it is a duck!

    So, in short, the OP sentence simply means: Let’s not beat about the bush here.

    *Let's call a duck a duck (6) To be avoided in the US, where it’s likely to be misconstrued as offensive, because of a taboo meaning of the word spade in American English!

    It's not that, to my knowledge, you can't say the word 'spade' at all. If I'm working in the garden, I could say "Hand me that spade with the green handle" to someone standing nearby, and they would give me the long-handled digging tool I'm pointing at.
    The problem lies in saying the word when there's enough ambiguity for a listener to think of the insulting slang word "spade" used for African Americans.

    lingobingo

    Senior Member

    London

    English - England

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #6

    Yes, I know that. My footnote was about that whole phrase, not just the word spade on its own. I would direct you to a former thread on exactly this, but it’s in a different forum. Let's call a duck a duck (8)

    Last edited:

    A

    ain'ttranslationfun?

    Senior Member

    US English

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #7

    I've never encountered it, but "Let's call it's a duck if it quacks." is indeed related to the expression cited in #s2 & 3.

    Last edited:

    heypresto

    Senior Member

    South East England

    English - England

    • Jan 22, 2024
    • #8

    Please tell us where you saw this sentence. Who said it, to whom, and in what context?

    U

    USMeg

    Senior Member

    Virginia, USA

    English/USA

    • Jan 23, 2024
    • #9

    It is a blending of two idiomatic expressions.
    People are sometimes uncomfortable about saying "spade"--though the expression call a spade a spade is talking about a shovel. That word as a racist epithet has pretty much fallen out of use.
    The two things that are being inaptly mingled here really mean two different things.
    "Calling a spade a spade" is about not using flowery language to dress up or hide something (i.e., not "beating around the bush"). It is perfectly idiomatic and still quite common.
    Call a spade a spade - Wikipedia.
    The "duck test" is about refusing to acknowledge that something is true despite all the supporting evidence that is before you.
    Duck test - Wikipedia
    The expression in the OP borders on the nonsensical. Please don't use it.

    Last edited:

    ewie

    Senior Member

    Manchester 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿🇬🇧

    English English

    • Jan 23, 2024
    • #10

    USMeg said:

    The expression in the OP borders on the nonsensical. Please don't use it.

    (I rather like it: it reminds me of Does the Pope sh_t in the woods? ~ which never fails to make me smile.)

    Roxxxannne

    Senior Member

    American English (New England and NYC)

    • Jan 23, 2024
    • #11

    One of the problems with altering a common phrase to be amusing is that the original phrase has to be recognizable in the altered version.

    'Does the Pope sh_t in the woods?" works because it lifts "Pope" from "Is the Pope Catholic?" and inserts it in "Does a bear sh_t in the woods?" Both expressions have to do with naming something that is a characteristic of the Pope or a bear (two wildly different creatures).

    "Let's call a duck a duck if

    it's

    it quacks. Shall we?" is too far removed from "If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck and quacks like a duck, it's a duck" to obviously be an adaptation of that expression, the point of which is that the object has all the obvious signs of "duckness."
    If it's supposed to be a play on "let's call a spade a spade," then adding "if it quacks" is superfluous; the duck version would be "Let's call a duck a duck."

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