like water off a duck's back
like water off a duck's back
Fleetingly, without having any significant, lasting, or apparent impact on someone or something. I was worried losing his job was going to trigger his depression, but it seemed to roll off him like water off a duck's back. I envy my sister because any criticism or judgment is like water off a duck's back to her.
See also: back, like, off, water
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
like water off a duck's back
Fig. easily; without any apparent effect. Insults rolled off John like water off a duck's back. The bullets had no effect on the steel door. They fell away like water off a duck's back.
See also: back, like, off, water
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
like water off a duck's back
Readily and without apparent effect. For example, The scathing reviews rolled off him like water off a duck's back. This expression alludes to the fact that duck feathers shed water. [Early 1800s]
See also: back, like, off, water
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
like water off a duck's back
You say that criticism is like water off a duck's back when it does not have any effect at all on the person being criticized. Insults like that are like water off a duck's back after all these years. He insists that the chants from the fans are like water off a duck's back to him. Note: The feathers on a duck's back are covered with an oily substance which stops them absorbing water so that it flows straight off them.
See also: back, like, off, water
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
like water off a duck's back
a remark or incident which has no apparent effect on a person.See also: back, like, off, water
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
like water off a duck's back
Easily, smoothly, without ill effect. This expression, dating from the early nineteenth century, alludes to the way a duck’s feathers shed water. Charles Kingsley used it in The Water Babies (1863), “When men are men of the world, hard words run off them like water off a duck’s back.”
See also: back, like, off, water
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
like water off a duck's back
Without any apparent effect. Ducks' feathers are waterproof. The preen (or, formally, the uropygial) gland at the base of the tail produces oil that spreads and covers the birds' outer coat so that water forms droplets on, but does not permeate, the feathers. That's why a critical remark that doesn't bother the person for whom it was intended rolls off like water off a duck's back.
See also: back, like, off, water
Endangered Phrases by Steven D. Price
- be (like) water off a duck's back
- be water off a duck's back
- from the corner of (one's) eye
- out (of) the corner of (one's) eye
- out of the corner of eye
- out of the corner of one's eye
- out of the corner of your eye
- trigger happy
- trigger-happy
- see the writing on the wall