A difficult phrase to trace, as its very existence has been routinely edited out of dictionaries since at least the 1940s.
Earliest known recorded reference comes from "Animal Euphemisms of the English Language", a college essay written by Avanti Rishi in 1937.
While in the beginning the phrase was considered a brash equivalent of "what the hell?", now it is used most often as a substitution for any exclamation of disappointment (c.1980).
Earliest known recorded reference comes from "Animal Euphemisms of the English Language", a college essay written by Avanti Rishi in 1937.
While in the beginning the phrase was considered a brash equivalent of "what the hell?", now it is used most often as a substitution for any exclamation of disappointment (c.1980).
5 comments:
The phrase was used in Tropic of Cancer written by renowned author Henry Miller and published in France in 1934.
Miller sees a book title he wishes he himself had thought of and exclaims: "Well, fuck a duck!" His next thought was if he knew the guy he'd congratulate him.
Awesome, thank you! I am so happy to know this. Truly!
It may be too obvious, but isn't this a variant of "Lord love a duck!". Possibly with "duck" meaning duchess or duke as in "Me duc" used in the English East Midlands, and "Duckie" used as a friendly nick name for a child, e.g. "Put your coat on Duckie it's cold outside".
I'm sure that's it! :)
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