fine weather for ducks
- idiom
- UK
:
tiempo de patos
- He joked that it was fine weather for ducks as he walked under his umbrella.
Examples
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The forecast promised more fine weather for ducks this weekend.
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After hours of heavy rain, she declared it was definitely fine weather for ducks.
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It's fine weather for ducks today!
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I think it's fine weather for ducks this week.
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After a week of non-stop rain, she joked that it was fine weather for ducks.
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Looking out the window at the pouring rain, he chuckled, saying it was fine weather for ducks.
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The heavy downpour made everyone agree it was fine weather for ducks.
Synonyms
46
1.0
Weather that makes being outside unpleasant, often with rain or strong wind
A joking phrase for weather so rainy that only ducks enjoy it
Very wet weather that only ducks like
Very rainy weather that ducks enjoy
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase literally combines 'fine' + 'weather' + 'for' + 'ducks' so a learner can infer it means 'weather that is good/suitable for ducks' and thereby plausibly deduce wet or rainy conditions because ducks favour water. However, the expression is used humorously/ironically and relies on pragmatic world knowledge (ducks like water), so the precise ironic meaning ('very wet/rainy') is not fully predictable without prior exposure.
Etymology
Fine weather for ducks comes from the simple picture of ducks enjoying rain and puddles. When people see heavy rain they jokingly call it 'fine weather for ducks', meaning 'very wet or rainy weather'.