break a duck
to end a series of defeats
TRANSLATION
break a duck = eine Pechsträhne beenden --- GOOGLE INDEX break a duck: approximately 100,000 Google hits
STATISTICS
IN THE PRESS
The manager has been scarred by each of his previous matches away to German opposition, six trips to the country with three different clubs having ended in defeat. This was an emphatic way to BREAK THAT DUCK.
(The Guardian)
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Sergio Garcia Tries To BREAK THE DUCK
(deadspin.com sports news portal)
(The Guardian)
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Sergio Garcia Tries To BREAK THE DUCK
(deadspin.com sports news portal)
Did you
know?
break the duck (chiefly British)
idiom
- make one’s first score or achieve a particular feat for the first time
(Oxford Dictionaries)
---
The expression "break a duck" originated in the sport of cricket. In the mid 19th century, a "duck’s egg" was British public school slang for a score of nought, or zero, for a particular player. This derived from a duck egg’s shape, which resembles a zero. When a player finally scored, they said he "broke the duck’s egg," an expression that was eventually shortened to "break the duck."
This phrase was expanded to other sports, particularly football, and is also applied to an entire team that ends a streak of losses with a win. It can also be used in a more broad figurative sense to any kind of success that arises after a series of defeats or a long period of time.
Speaking of ducks, how about a few other useful phrases compliments of our fine-feathered friend?
- dead duck = someone or something that is certain to die or fail (If I miss my flight, I’m a dead duck)
- sitting duck = someone or something that is vulnerable to attack, physical or verbal (Complain too loudly about the boss and you’ll be a sitting duck)
- duck soup = something that is easy to do or accomplish (For Sabine, knitting a scarf is duck soup)
- get your ducks in a row = get your affairs in order or organized (I must get my ducks in a row before I go on holiday)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We’ll break the duck if we can get the customer to sign this new contract."
idiom
- make one’s first score or achieve a particular feat for the first time
(Oxford Dictionaries)
---
The expression "break a duck" originated in the sport of cricket. In the mid 19th century, a "duck’s egg" was British public school slang for a score of nought, or zero, for a particular player. This derived from a duck egg’s shape, which resembles a zero. When a player finally scored, they said he "broke the duck’s egg," an expression that was eventually shortened to "break the duck."
This phrase was expanded to other sports, particularly football, and is also applied to an entire team that ends a streak of losses with a win. It can also be used in a more broad figurative sense to any kind of success that arises after a series of defeats or a long period of time.
Speaking of ducks, how about a few other useful phrases compliments of our fine-feathered friend?
- dead duck = someone or something that is certain to die or fail (If I miss my flight, I’m a dead duck)
- sitting duck = someone or something that is vulnerable to attack, physical or verbal (Complain too loudly about the boss and you’ll be a sitting duck)
- duck soup = something that is easy to do or accomplish (For Sabine, knitting a scarf is duck soup)
- get your ducks in a row = get your affairs in order or organized (I must get my ducks in a row before I go on holiday)
---
SMUGGLE OWAD into today's conversation
"We’ll break the duck if we can get the customer to sign this new contract."
