What does the phrase “not this little black duck” mean? I know it’s common among Australian people but I am not sure what does it mean.
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4worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-duc1.htm– KillingTimeSep 6, 2022 at 14:31
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1Is it common among other anglophone countries?– user463286Sep 6, 2022 at 14:35
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2Never heard it in the US. Are all the ducks in Oz black, too?– John LawlerSep 6, 2022 at 14:50
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1I've never heard it in the UK.– Kate BuntingSep 6, 2022 at 16:16
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1@KillingTime You should turn that into an answer.– BarmarSep 6, 2022 at 21:27
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2 Answers
It's a direct reference to the Looney Tunes cartoon Daffy duck. In multiple episodes, when confronted with a difficult situation he walked away stating "not this little black duck". As in:
Your not telling me what to do/I'm not walking into that situation.
For example: What a confirmed bachelor might say being set up on a blind date with a woman who is 6 months pregnant.
As an Australian I can say I’ve never heard the expression. However, it does seem to be valid and is explained in World Wide Words on:
https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-duc1.htm
In brief, according to this source, it is used as an indication that the speaker is not so stupid as they are being taken to be.
Following a comment from Stuart F (thank you), I quote the source of the link which said, in part:
"The consensus is that it does come from the Warner Bros Daffy Duck cartoons, Daffy, of course, being a small black duck who used it as his catchphrase. Quite why Australians took this particular character to their hearts is a topic for some sociologist in need of a thesis. . . .
[Apparently] Daffy’s catchphrase is indeed said to have appealed first to black Australians. Presumably they were able to identify with this black underdog character, or at least find a rallying cry in his catchphrase as an indicator of ethnic pride. But how it shifted into the wider Australian community is still far from clear."
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This answer, which provides a good reference, really needs to be combined with the other answer which explains that it comes from Daffy Duck. Please include information in your post rather than just providing a link, just in case World Wide Words ever disappears.– Stuart FOct 25, 2022 at 11:40