So a lame duck, an eager beaver, and a cat in pajamas walk into a bar…..
So a lame duck, an eager beaver, and a cat in pajamas walk into a bar…..
No… we’ll stop there. That’s too much.
Definition:
As defined in Linda and Roger Flavell’s book Dictionary of Idioms and Their Origins, “a lame duck” is an idiom that means “an ineffectual person, a failing business.” (page 105)
While you hope that you are neither of these things, it’s still an important idiom to know!
Origin:
This idiom made its first appearance in the New York Stock Exchange in the eighteenth century. During this time, animal idioms and references filled the stock exchange’s slang. For example, a bull was “a speculator for a rise in the price of shares,” a bear was “a speculator for a fall in prices,” and a lame duck is “a broker who cannot [honor] his financial commitments” (page 105).