Like water off a duck's back what does it mean. See what is "like water off a duck's back" in other dictionaries

1 How many times a day do we hear various beautiful turns of speech and catchphrases, the origin of which we have no idea. Indeed, why even know the meaning of clearly outdated proverbs, the picky reader will ask? Of course, everything is true, but not quite, because education is power, and if you want to represent something in society, you must understand what you are talking about. Today we will analyze a rather funny phrase, this Like water off a duck's back, you can read the meaning of the expression a little lower. Our site is simply full of folk, and not only wisdom, so be sure to bookmark it.
However, before continuing, I would like to bring to your attention a few interesting articles on the subject of phraseological units. For example, what does the dog bark, the caravan goes; how to understand Neither fluff nor feather; what are Danish King's Drops; the meaning of the expression Flew like plywood over Paris, etc.
So let's continue what does it mean like water off a duck's back?

Like water off a duck's back- so they say about a person who does not care about anything and does not bother


Synonym of the expression Like water off a duck's back: come out dry from water.

Like water off a duck's back- denotes a person who gets out of any unpleasant situations without problems of consequences


The origin of phraseology Like water off a duck's back rooted deep in history ancient Russia. In those days, midwives, healers and sorceresses, who had a lot of slander, were very actively "working". This phrase is just part of a similar incantation formula. Sometimes it happened that when inviting a healer grandmother to a sick woman, parents heard a simple slander " From the goose water, and from our (Tolyan / Kolyan) thinness (disease)". Many really believed that an illiterate woman, by some kind of saying, could cure a serious illness. As if all microbes and viruses, which at that time had not yet been heard of, would immediately run away from their daughter or son, like water runs off a goose .

In fact, water "runs" from feathers not only goose, but also any water bird. After all, nature took care that the feathers of these birds were smeared with a thin layer of fat. This is "taken care of" by a special gland on the back. That is why all the water does not wet the feathers, but simply rolls down in large drops.

By the way, ordinary birds get wet in the rain, for example, sparrows and chickens are a very depressing sight. After all, people have long been talking about frightened and confused people - "wet chicken."

By reading this short article, you have learned Like water off a duck's back, meaning phraseologism, and now you won’t get into trouble when you find this proverb in a conversation or on the Internet.

Nikolaeva Elena
Like water off a duck's back.

Subject: "Why do they say "As with goose water»

Tasks: 1 . Clarify and consolidate children's ideas about poultry living in different environments that differ from each other in appearance, modes of movement, the nature of the food consumed.

2. Establish a connection between the structure and lifestyle of birds in the ecosystem. Give children new knowledge about waterfowl using experiments.

3. To form the habit of using possessive adjectives.

4. Educate caring attitude to the birds.

Material: small pictures depicting poultry (according to the number of children, chicken and goose feathers, fat, pipette, vegetable oil, "loose" paper, brush.

move lessons:

caregiver: Guys, today we have an employee visiting us environmental laboratory, specialist in the study of birds, dear Klara Karlovna.

K.K. Hello guys. Of course, you know that there are very, very many birds on earth. There are large birds, almost two meters tall (ostriches, there are very tiny ones, no more than a butterfly or dragonfly (hummingbird). There are birds that fly above the clouds (eagle, falcon, hawk, and there are those that do not fly at all). (penguin). Some live in the forest, others in the city, others in the steppe, and others on the seashore.

Today I invite you to the laboratory not only to remember what we know about birds, but also to learn something new and interesting about them. Do you mind? Then let's go. Oh, I totally forgot. After all, in order to get into any laboratory, you need a pass and overalls. We will provide you with overalls, but where can I get passes? came up with: we will play various games about birds, earn cards, which will be our passes to the laboratory. Do you agree? Then we start.

1. Game "Every step is a bird". Children name only domestic birds. Cards are received by those who are ahead of everyone.

2. Ball game "Answer correctly". The question is answered by the child who caught the ball. Only the child who correctly answered the question receives the card. question:

What birds are called domestic? (Those who live next to a person and benefit him)

What is the name of the bird house? (poultry house, chicken coop).

What do poultry eat? (Grain, worms, caterpillars).

What birds live in the poultry yard? (Chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys)

What birds can be found on the pond (Geese, ducks, swans).

What is the name of the birds that love to swim? (Waterfowl).

3. Game "Whose, whose, whose?". Cards are received by those who gave more correct answers.

Rooster scallop - rooster comb;

foot goose - goose foot;

Duck wing - duck wing;

Chicken egg - chicken egg;

Rooster's tail - cock's tail;

Duck's beak - duck's beak;

Neck of a swan - a swan;

Feather goose - goose feather .

KK Guys, you are just great and you already know a lot about birds, and now let's turn into birds ourselves for a minute.

Fizminutka

Hands raised and waved

These are the trees in the forest.

Elbows bent, brushes shaken -

The wind knocks down the leaves.

Let's gently wave our hands -

The birds are flying towards us.

How they sit down, we'll show -

Wings we fold back.

K.K. Guys! It's time to go to the lab. Present your passes (children show their cards and name the birds depicted on them, wear overalls (children put on oilcloth aprons) and come to the tables.

Children sit at the tables, where everything is ready for experiments.

KK: Guys, you have already told me a lot about poultry. But I have one more for you, the very last question: "Why do geese, ducks and other waterfowl swim, dive, and come out dry all day?" There is even such proverb: "As with goose water» .

Listens to the children's answers.

K. K. I can help you learn the bird secret of waterfowl. To do this, we will conduct an experiment with water and fat.

Experience 1. Children and K. K. grease their hands, put their hands in water for a few seconds, then take them out and draw conclusions.

KK What happened? Why water dripping from hands? Because it has turned into balls - droplets that roll off your hands. The same thing happens to the water on the feathers of waterfowl. It turns out that all waterfowl have a special fatty gland on their back at the root of the tail, with the fat of which geese and ducks smear their feathers with their beaks. Feathers of birds are covered with a thin layer of fat. So water rolls off them easily. Still, not in vain among the people they say: "As with goose water» . And also they say: "You're wet like a chicken". Imagine what the chicken will be like. If she gets into the water? Let's do an experiment with feathers.

Experience 2. Children put goose and chicken feathers into the water, take them out and draw conclusions. One feather got wet and the other didn't. Why? (it's greased)

KK People have learned from nature. The metal parts of the machines are lubricated with special oil so that they do not rust when water gets in. It is very useful to smear hands and face with cream so that the skin does not crack, is smooth and soft.

Today, in our environmental laboratory, we remembered everything we knew about poultry, learned something new. Remaining to be done last task, but you will perform this task in your group together with the teacher. And I say goodbye to you and wish you success in your further study of the diverse and interesting world feathered.

caregiver: Guys, did you like the tour. Tell us what you learned new and interesting? Listens to children's answers and summarizes.

And I have a task for you from Clara Karlovna. The teacher opens the envelope and is reading: rooster, egg, chicken. Weird. Just three words. What does it mean? Probably Klara Karlovna wanted to play a game with you

"What's First, What's Later". What are pencils and paper for then? She probably wanted you to not just answer the question, but draw your answer.

The children are doing the task. They put the drawings in an envelope and send them to Klara Karlovna.

“Water from a goose - all thinness from a granddaughter,” grandmothers used to say, bathing their grandchildren. Thus, they tried to drive away all troubles, illnesses and misfortunes from their relatives. You have probably heard this phrase in a different meaning. Let's see what it means and how to apply it.

The meaning of catchphrases in our speech

To make our speech more dynamic and emotional, we often use phraseological units. This gives brightness and richness to our words. The use of set expressions makes a person more interesting interlocutor adds color to his story. catch phrases make you empathize and experience the same emotions as the narrator.

If you use a phraseological unit, be sure that you understand it correctly. The meaning of some catchphrases may have changed over the years or received several more interpretations. You need to know about this before using set expression. The phraseological unit said to the place makes you more well-read and erudite in the eyes of the interlocutor.

Short well-aimed expressions steadily entered not only oral, but also written speech. After all, the emotion that they convey can be described in ordinary words very difficult, if not impossible at all, which gives rise to misunderstanding and innuendo. Catch phrases save time and effort. Phraseologisms are one member of the sentence and are perceived as a whole.

Part of the spell formula

The meaning of the proverb "like water off a duck's back" can be explained by its origin. Once upon a time, healers used this phrase, inserting it into their spells. "Water from a goose - from Vasenka (Vanechka, Mashenka) all thinness." Thinness in this case means illness or misfortune. It means that everything bad should run away from a person, like water from the plumage of a goose.

Synonymous phraseological units

The meaning of "like water off a duck's back" can be considered through popular expressions with a similar meaning:

  • "do not care";
  • "come out dry from water";
  • "to hell with";
  • "all tryn-grass";
  • "up to the lantern";
  • "before the light bulb";
  • "spit from a high tower."

The meaning of phraseologism "like water off a duck's back" in sentences

As you can see, this phrase can have several interpretations. Consider examples of its application in various offers. The meaning of the phraseological unit "like water off a duck's back" may vary depending on the context.

Examples of sentences in which the phrase "like water off a duck's back" can be replaced with "how it was taken off by hand":

  • Yesterday I lay in bed with a temperature all day, my head was like cast iron. And today he feels great, everything is like water off a duck's back.
  • Oh, and he angered me, he was ready to kill. What got into me? And now everything is fine, like water off a duck's back.
  • I heard that if there are no vitality and you want to sleep, you need to check the kidneys. Indeed, she drank the medicine, and drowsiness went away like water off a duck's back.

Examples of sentences in which the meaning "like water off a duck's back" is close to popular expression"come out dry from water":

  • Styopa crept into the room and opened the table. There were cherished papers. Leaving the room, he made sure that the guard was asleep. The next day, the loss was discovered, and the one who was not in business was punished. And Styopa is like water off a duck's back.
  • Poured Alenka yesterday dirty water, the girl cried all evening, she received a reprimand from her parents - the dress ruined the new one. And he was like water off a duck's back, even if they made a remark.

Sentences with idiom "like water off a duck's back" meaning "nothing worries, nothing works":

  • Masha barely moved her legs, it seemed that her heart was about to stop ... And Lera, like water off a duck's back, also laughs.
  • Crashed his "Bentley", but like water off a duck's back. I also took a selfie against the background of iron.
  • It can be seen that everything is like water off a duck's back, if I were you, I would go to the monastery and stop smiling.
  • She already gave him the third deuce, threatened to call her parents, but everything was like water off a duck's back.

06.12.2018 18.02.2019 Alexander Firtsev


Have you met people who combine incredible luck and devilish psychological stability? Here is a man in a difficult situation. It seems that everything is over. But he easily gets out of the problems, as if nothing had happened. They say about these: "He's like water off a duck's back". We will make a journey into the past, understand how magic is connected with biology, and why people are compared to wet birds.

The meaning of phraseology

This expression has three uses:

So they say about a person who easily gets out of difficult situations without any losses. He does not care a straw. It seems that fate protects him. Pay attention to the word "easy": this is not a story about the heroic overcoming of obstacles, which is so characteristic of cinema. There was a problem and there isn't. The hero did nothing special, did not make any effort. Somehow it resolved itself.

For example, classmates messed up in class. Everyone was punished, except for one - the most cocky student. What can I say, it's like water off a duck's back! In this sense, phraseologism has an ironic and envious connotation.

Another meaning is impenetrable and indifferent person. This can at least whole year reproach, scold, exhort. He does not care. Your harsh words and threats flow from him like water off a duck's back. It's easy to feel the obvious negative connotation here. Such people terribly annoy others with their calmness and indifference.

When some unpleasant state quickly recedes. For example, a person is unwell. He drank the medicine, and the next morning the disease was gone like water off a duck's back. Or you got really mad at someone. Very much. So, ready to break it. But they took a deep breath, counted to ten, and the rage went away, as if nothing had happened.

The origin of phraseology

Long ago, people noticed the unique ability of geese not to get wet under the influence of water. The birds come ashore, brush themselves off a little, and the feathers are completely dry. The secret lies in the coccygeal gland. When pressed with its beak, it secretes an oily substance.

When it seems that the goose is just cleaning its feathers, it actually happens important process. It smears the substance on the surface of the body, due to which it acquires water-repellent properties. You can swim slowly without risking drowning. And under the influence of the sun, the substance is converted into vitamin D. Double benefit.

But people not only noted the ability of geese and ducks to get out of the water dry, but also used this image for magical purposes. Healers and sorcerers treated illnesses, saying: “Water off the goose, from (the patient’s name was inserted here) all the thinness!” Under thinness was understood a specific disease, and not a particular physique.

As planned, the disease was supposed to quickly escape from the poor fellow, like water flows from the plumage of a bird. Then the second part of the spell was lost, and the first part turned into a phraseological unit.

Leshok Olesya

Observing the growth and development of waterfowl, prove whether the expression "like water off a duck's back" is true.

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General and vocational education administration

Chaikovsky municipal district

VII municipal research conference

students of institutions of general and additional education

"I am a researcher"

MAOU secondary school №10

Direction: natural sciences

"Like water off a duck's back"

Completed by: Leshok Olesya

Vladimirovna

student of the 2nd "G" class

MAOU secondary school No. 10

Leader: Mulakhmetova

Svetlana Mikhailovna,

primary school teacher

MAOU secondary school No. 10

Tchaikovsky, 2013

Page

Introduction………………………………………………………1

Main part…………………………………………..…3

Experiments………………………………………………...7

Conclusion……………………………………………………9

References………………………………………...10

Applications

Introduction

Like water off a duck's back-

so from our Kolenka

thinness (i.e. disease)

The expression "like water off a duck's back» applied to people who get away with everything, whom nothing takes. This is not a simple saying, but part of an ancient incantation formula. It used to be that healers, pouring "spell water" over sick children, and caring parents, bathing a child in a bath, they said: “Like water from a goose, from our Kolenka (or Katenka) - thinness (that is, a disease).” And they innocently believed that all sorts of misfortunes would run away from their son or daughter as quickly as water runs off the goose plumage.

It is from the goose? No, not necessarily: from the feathers of any waterfowl, since their plumage is covered with a special grease secreted by a gland on the back at the root of the tail. Water does not wet feathers, rolls over fat ...

Now the majority of the urban population has not even seen a live goose, they do not know what these same geese look like. But they are happy to wear warm and light down jackets, and the most comfortable pillows for sleeping are down. Goose fat is widely used in medicine and cosmetology. The goose grows very quickly, there are breeds that reach a weight of 11 kg. And this is not only natural material down and feather, but also valuable meat. By the way, for some reason, in relation to geese, it is customary to say not a flock, but “a herd of geese”. This is when they walk or swim. And when they fly - then a flock!

So, just so you know, the goose is a waterfowl. And in all waterfowl, special glands on the body secrete fat, which lubricates the feathers so that they do not get wet and stick together in the water. And geese or ducks can take off directly from the water - their plumage is always ready to fly due to the fact that it does not get wet. Therefore, no matter how much water is poured on a goose, it will roll off it, as from any oily surface, and will not stick. Hence the meaning of the expression "Like water off a duck's back» - that is, it does not stick to a person, no matter what they say about him.

Objective: observing the growth and development of waterfowl, prove whether the expression "like water off a duck's back" is true

Tasks:

2) Conduct observations for waterfowl on the example of geese;

3) Conduct your own experiments;

4) Draw conclusions.

Object of study- domestic goose

Subject of study- coccygeal gland, goose down and feather.

We have put forward the following hypotheses - suppose:

  1. Is the expression "like water off a duck's back" really true?
  2. the saying will also be true: “like water from a chicken”;
  3. Geese are not protected from water and can drown.

I.Main part

My research work I started by watching the geese visiting my grandmother Irina, who raises poultry in the village Rostov region. Here's what I found most interesting:

  1. Quill pen value and application

Down and feathers are a very valuable natural material for which they find all sorts of uses. Basically, down and feathers are used for sewing warm clothes, as well as for making pillows and blankets. If we talk about goose down, then its value is second only to eider down. The goose feather is very durable, its service life is about 20 years.

The plucking process is done by hand. Down and feathers are plucked out, grabbing them with a large and index finger, while pulling them out should be in the direction of their growth. Parts such as the head, wings, neck, tail and thighs are not to be plucked. It is worth plucking a bird only if plucking is easy. This can also be determined by the behavior of the bird. If the feather has not yet grown enough, then plucking will cause anxiety in the bird. After plucking, the bird must receive a lot of food so that the restoration of the feather cover occurs quickly. Weak and sick birds are not subject to plucking. A plucked bird should not be allowed into the water in cold weather until a new feather has grown.

  1. History of domestication of geese

The progenitors of domestic geese were mainly three species. In Europe, the gray goose was domesticated. It has gray patterned plumage and a red beak. This species is distributed throughout Europe. In China and Far East the goose living there was tamed. It is a larger goose with a black beak. Modern domestic Chinese geese are very similar to their wild progenitor.

It is assumed that in Ancient Egypt the wild Nile goose was tamed, but its domesticated descendants have not been preserved. This type of goose lives almost everywhere in Africa, except for its western part. The Nile goose is slightly smaller than other progenitors of domestic species. It has a beautiful red-brown plumage with yellow tints.

In ancient Egypt, domestic, or rather semi-domestic, geese were well known. AT Egyptian tombs, built more than 4 thousand years ago, there are many drawings of geese: scenes of their fattening, roasting on a spit, images of peasants carrying geese to the market.

Geese are mentioned in the Odyssey - Penelope had 12 geese, and she loved to watch them greedily devour soaked grain.

In Greece, Lesser and Central Asia geese were sacred birds, they were also considered a symbol of abundance. During excavations ancient city Panjakent, on the territory of modern Tajikistan, an image of a young man holding a domestic goose for sacrifice was discovered.

The Indians believed that the geese gave advice to Brahma himself. The Romans revered geese because these birds saved Rome in 390, waking up the inhabitants of the city with their cackling. The geese were kept in the Temple of Juno on Capitoline Hill. But breeding geese in Russia began a little later than in others. European countries. greatest development this industry reached us between the 17th and 19th centuries. Then the country exported a lot of down, feathers and goose meat abroad. Mass deliveries of geese abroad were carried out in the same way as in ancient Germany: the geese were driven on foot. This was considered beneficial for long distances and the absence of convenient communication. Live birds were transported for sale from Russia to Germany and Austria-Hungary. But the geese were “shod” before such a long journey. It was done like this: melted liquid resin was poured out of the blue, and sand was poured in a thin layer next to it. A herd of geese was driven first through the resin, and immediately after that - over the sand. Now the geese could walk dozens of miles without damaging their paws.

  1. How a gosling is born from an egg

(see fig. 1 appendix 1)

Goose eggs are incubated by a goose hen, and if there are a lot of eggs, then they are placed in an incubator (see Fig. 2 appendix 1). For example, the development time of a goose egg in an incubator is 28 days, and a chicken egg is less than 21 days. The incubator maintains a temperature of 38 degrees above 0. The eggs must be turned over daily and several times so that it warms up from all sides.

2. On the 28th day, the gosling hatched. His whole body is covered with yellow fluff (Fig. 3 appendix 1)

Watching the goslings, I noticed that the yellow fluff easily gets wet from the water (Fig. 4 Appendix 1). I learned that the gosling fluff does not protect it well from cold and moisture, and at this age they can easily die from the cold or drown. The fluff also dries quickly in the sun (Fig. 5, Fig. 6 Appendix 1) Within three weeks, the goslings grow very quickly. The yellow fluff begins to change, white feathers gradually appear, and the fluff under them also becomes white color(Fig. 7 appendix 1).

The process of feathering occurs in certain sequence. In intensively growing goslings, by the age of 20 days, feathers appear in the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe goiter, abdomen, behind the shoulder blades and on the sides. By 36-40 days of age, all parts of the body, except for the back and lower back, are dotted with feathers. The full plumage of goslings comes by the 46th-50th day of life. When the gosling is only one month old, it already swims well and does not sink (Fig. 8 Appendix 1). And this goose is one year old (Fig. 9 Appendix 1). And his feathers are smooth, on the wings and tail, hard and long, and shiny.

Bird feathers can be divided into two main groups: contour and down. Down feathers are distinguished by the absence of a dense fan. In addition to down feathers, there is down, consisting of almost one fan beard, the shaft is underdeveloped. Contour feathers are divided into integumentary, covert, flight feathers (they are divided into several orders) and tail feathers. Allocate more bristles, consisting of a single rod. There are hair-like feathers like bristles that perform the functions of touch. different types feathers also perform various functions.

What happens, why do geese swim and not drown?

To do this, we read special books on the anatomy of birds. Only birds have a special gland that secretes fat. It is located above the tail of birds. In different birds it different sizes, for example, in chickens it is the size of a pea, and in a goose it is about the size of a nut. The bird cleans its feathers and at the same time the feathers are lubricated with fat from this gland, it also helps to keep the stratum corneum of the beak firm.

A dense weave of feather and down beards forms a dense layer with a water-repellent outer surface. In addition, countless air bubbles enclosed in the thinnest cavities of the plumage layers contribute to water resistance.

After studying the literature and making observations, I planned 3 experiments to prove or disprove my hypotheses.

II.Experimental part

1 experiment

Consider goose and down feathers. We wet them with water, we find out that the goose feather is not wetted by water, and the fluff gets wet and sinks over time.

2 experiment

We apply vegetable oil to the paper with a brush for drawing, moisten the sheet with water, and see what happened. The water rolled off, but the paper remained dry.

3 experiment

Oil-coated paper and plain paper were placed in a plate of water and left for 6 hours, after which the plain paper absorbed the water and sank to the bottom, while the oil paper remained floating on the surface.

Conclusion

Thus, having studied the literature and conducted an experiment, we proved that the first hypothesis put forward by us at the beginning of the study was confirmed. The expression "like water off a duck's back" is correct:

  • water rolls off oil paper very quickly;
  • an oiled sheet dries much faster than a regular sheet of paper;
  • down sinks in water, and feathers float on the surface.

The second hypothesis put forward at the beginning of the work was not confirmed. The expression “like water from a chicken” turned out to be incorrect, because chicken feathers are not smeared with the same fat as those of waterfowl.

We also learned how domestic geese are raised, observed the behavior of birds at home. Thanks to this work, I learned a lot about birds and I want to continue observing animals, studying their behavior and various features. External structure birds.

6 . http://www.zooeco.com/0-dom/0-dom-pt1392-3.html The history of the domestication of geese.