Life Lessons from a Duck

 

Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories.

Many animals live in and around bodies of water. Take ducks, for example.

Ducks love the water. You can often see them floating happily on the surface of lakes, creeks¹, rivers and ponds.

Ducks swim effortlessly in all kinds of weather. Feathers protect them and other birds against the cold.

Ducks are great hunters. You can watch them diving down under the water for food, with their bottoms and webbed feet sticking up in the air. Ducks often live near water. This is where they mate and lay their eggs.

So, you could say that ducks really know water. In nature, they are water experts.

This brings us to our first expression: to take to something like a duck to water.

This means you are really good at something without even trying very hard. It is not a struggle for you at all. It is almost as if you were born to do it. And you really enjoy it.

For example, the first time the boy got on a bicycle he rode surprisingly well. You could say he took to biking like a duck to water.

When my friend told me that she wanted to start rock climbing, I worried about her. Rock climbing can be a difficult and even dangerous sport. But she has taken to rock climbing like a duck to water! Now, she’s even competing in rock climbing competitions.

So that is our first duck and water idiom. The next one also describes something easy with "duck" and "water."

When something is like water off a duck’s back, it is no big deal. Whatever has happened has had no lasting² effect on the duck or anyone else.

This expression comes from the fact that duck feathers are waterproof³. They let water run off a duck’s body. The feathers are perfectly⁴ designed because the birds spend so much time in the water.

In English, we use this saying when talking about something that has happened to someone, but the person doesn’t seem to care. They are not bothered at all.

Now, the opposite of that expression is to ruffle⁵ someone’s feathers. This means the person is really unhappy about something, just as ducks would be if you ruffled⁶, or messed up, their waterproof feathers.

Take my friend Chuck, for example. You can say anything to him and he will not get upset. Nothing seems to ruffle his feathers. Everything just rolls off of his back.

A more formal way to say this is Chuck maintains his composure. If you lose your composure, you have let a situation upset you … or ruffle your feathers.

Now, let’s hear two friends use some of these duck, water and feather expressions.

So, I’ve been hanging out with Hope more these days and I really like her.

I like Hope too! She’s very easy-going.

Exactly. Things that would upset most people, just don’t affect her at all. Most things are like water off a duck’s back.

And that’s such a great personality trait⁷. I have a couple of friends whose feathers are easily ruffled. If the littlest thing goes wrong … they get very upset. Such a pain!

Oh, and another great thing about Hope, she’ll try anything! Last weekend we went golfing together even though she’d never been before. And we had so much fun!

Isn’t it difficult to golf with someone who's never golfed before?

Yeah, usually. But she took to the game like a duck to water. In fact, she made shots that took me months to learn!

Didn’t that ruffle your feathers -- you know, the fact that she was better than you?

Not at all! For me, anything that happens on the golf course is like water off a duck’s back. I just golf to spend time outdoors and get a little exercise.

And that brings us to the end of this Words and Their Stories.

Until next time … I’m Anna Matteo.

Like a duck takes to water, Like the flowers take to dew⁸, Like a Latin takes to a Latin quarter, I take to you!

Words in This Story

born to (do something) – phrasal verb having a natural talent or ability in a particular area.

instinct – n. a natural ability

natural – n. a person regarded as having an innate⁹ gift or talent for a particular task or activity.

bothered – adj. feeling or showing agitation¹⁰, worry, annoyance¹¹, etc.

opposite – n. a word with a meaning that is completely different from the meaning of another word

ruffled affected¹² by a loss of calmness or composure

messed up – phrasal verb to make a mistake : to do something incorrectly

composure – n. calmness especially of mind, manner, or appearance

rolls off his back – idiomatic¹³ expression Not to let something bother you, or get the best of you.

1 creeks   

n.小湾( creek的名词复数 )；小港；小河；小溪

参考例句：

• The prospect lies between two creeks. 矿区位于两条溪流之间。 来自辞典例句
• There was the excitement of fishing in country creeks with my grandpa on cloudy days. 有在阴雨天和姥爷一起到乡村河湾钓鱼的喜悦。 来自辞典例句

2 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

3 waterproof   

n.防水材料；adj.防水的；v.使...能防水

参考例句：

• My mother bought me a waterproof watch.我妈妈给我买了一块防水手表。
• All the electronics are housed in a waterproof box.所有电子设备都储放在一个防水盒中。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 ruffle   

v.弄皱，弄乱；激怒，扰乱；n.褶裥饰边

参考例句：

• Don't ruffle my hair.I've just combed it.别把我的头发弄乱了。我刚刚梳好了的。
• You shouldn't ruffle so easily.你不该那么容易发脾气。

6 ruffled   

adj. 有褶饰边的, 起皱的 动词ruffle的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• She ruffled his hair affectionately. 她情意绵绵地拨弄着他的头发。
• All this talk of a strike has clearly ruffled the management's feathers. 所有这些关于罢工的闲言碎语显然让管理层很不高兴。

7 trait   

n.显著特点，特性

参考例句：

• Creativity is a human trait.创造力是人类的一种特性。
• Repose of manner is an estimable trait in a horse.神情镇定是一匹马可贵的特质。

8 dew   

n.露，露水

参考例句：

• His new shoes were wet with dew.他的那双新鞋被露水弄湿了。
• The dew on the branches drizzled our hair and shoulders.枝头上的露珠润湿了我们的头发和双肩。

9 innate   

adj.天生的，固有的，天赋的

参考例句：

• You obviously have an innate talent for music.你显然有天生的音乐才能。
• Correct ideas are not innate in the mind.人的正确思想不是自己头脑中固有的。

10 agitation   

n.搅动；搅拌；鼓动，煽动

参考例句：

• Small shopkeepers carried on a long agitation against the big department stores.小店主们长期以来一直在煽动人们反对大型百货商店。
• These materials require constant agitation to keep them in suspension.这些药剂要经常搅动以保持悬浮状态。

11 annoyance   

n.恼怒，生气，烦恼

参考例句：

• Why do you always take your annoyance out on me?为什么你不高兴时总是对我出气？
• I felt annoyance at being teased.我恼恨别人取笑我。

12 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

13 idiomatic   

adj.成语的，符合语言习惯的

参考例句：

• In our reading we should always be alert for idiomatic expressions.我们在阅读过程中应经常注意惯用法。
• In his lecture,he bore down on the importance of idiomatic usage in a language.他在演讲中着重强调了语言中习惯用法的重要性。