So here I sit, reading the transcripts of
David Marshall's oral history interview from the
National Archives of Singapore, and I can't help noticing that he has something of an affection for the phrase, "Wacko the ducks". He seems to use it in the way one would react with great surprise or shock, sorta like "Get outta here!" (if you're American) or "No way!" (if you're a teenager) or "Well, slap me around and call me Suzy!" (if you're just colourful that way).
"Wacko the ducks," he recalls saying on more than one occasion, including when he was offered the position of French ambassador.
I have no idea where this phrase originates, as even Google helpfully informs me that "Your search - "wacko the ducks" - did not match any documents."
Wacko the ducks!
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Wacko the ducksLabels: Singapore stories, Words words words
11 Comments:
It might just be me but "Wacko the ducks!" sort of sounds like "What the Fxxx!". Kind of similar in usage if you think about it.
Or you might want to ask this fella about it since he's writing a short story titled "Wacko the Duck".
bwahahah!!! "slap me around and call me suzy!" errrm... that's my supervisor's name. sorry. that was just hilarious because she's one of the most poker-faced, straightlaced person i know.
I think I've said Wacko Dacko a couple of times in my life.
Heh. I like it.
Wacko the ducks!
I agree with mr sanguine. It sounds like cockney rhyming slang!
My family had a good laugh when we saw this post because my sisters and I all thought the phrase was just a normal part of regular language. We hadn't realized it peculiar to our father. We suspect he may have picked it up as a prisoner of war when he was with Australians as we found a loosely related Aussie phrase. The original author got the meaning just right.
J_Marshall > Fantastic nugget of information, thank you! I just did a Google search and it looks like there still aren't any other etymological sources for this phrase out there.
Lol my old man used to say it and now I do too. My partner works at a farm and has 3 ducks among other animals. 2 of them have colour and there feathers are all neat, the 3rd is the biggest, has no colours and always has ruffled feathers... I call him wacko the duck now hahaha... I've never asked the old man where he got it from tho.
Offering my contribution to this ancient blog article.
My mother (and grandmother, I think) used to say this phrase, as a kind of positive exclamation. Similar enough to "fancy that!" or a simple "wow"! Sometimes it would just be shorted to "wacko"! (With the stress on the second syllable, "wack-OH".)
And I'm from Australia - regional Victoria, the Mallee to be specific. :0)
That's interesting - our Dad had distant relatives in Victoria too!
That's interesting. Our father had distant relatives in Victoria too.
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