“Just the duck’s nuts” is a common slang term in Australia and New Zealand , meaning “the best”,
for example, “that hotel was just the ducks nuts, it had everything we needed
within walking distance”. In Australia there
is also the child-friendly version “just the duck’s GUTS”. Until recently I thought that the meaning of
this saying was the irony of ducks not having nuts, similar to “the bees
knees”, and the guts version didn’t make sense because duck obviously do have
guts.
And then I was reading my chicken book and realised that
chickens and ducks do have nuts.
Oops. Turns out the large white
bits that I thought were lungs are actually testicles (see my post on homekill chicken)! They are huge compared to the size of the
rooster, and they are tucked up inside the cavity, so I had no idea, I just pull out all the bits and don't really know where they come from. (And I have been leaving the lungs in the
cavity, not sure if it really matters, they are the dark pink spongy bits that
are difficult to get out).
 |
| Chicken nuts (lower organ in photo), for example, which I assume are similar to duck's nuts |
So now I’m really not sure what that saying means. The duck has both nuts and guts, and I’d
probably not want to be compared to either of them! Maybe the originator of this saying was not
aware of avian physiology and assumed that the lack of external nuts meant that
the duck had none....
And just to gross this post up a level, apparently people
EAT the chicken nuts!
Any ideas what this saying really means? Does anyone have a slang dictionary and can
look it up? I can’t find anything on the
net and now its really bugging me….and does anyone eat these?
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My Wyandotte boys must be part duck because their gonads are HUGE! Maybe it's because I wait till they crow to make sure that they are boys before I dispatch them? Funny how much alike a ducks innards are to a chooks when the outside is so VERY different!
ReplyDeleteI bet it's as simple as this: "the bee's knees" and "the duck's nuts" are just simple rhymes that are fun to say. I've never even heard of the duck's nuts but after reading this it's going to become a part of my vernacular!! So funny :D
ReplyDeleteNever heard of duck nuts before either... I'm so gonna use it. ;-)
ReplyDeleteWell I'm an Aussie through and through but I've never heard the saying. Hubby has though. One thing's for sure, i'll not be eating any poultry nuts!
ReplyDeleteThis post was the duck nuts. Already starting my every day usage. Love it.
ReplyDeleteDucks was probably a popular and premium brand of nuts.
ReplyDeletewell I'm glad that lots of people learnt a new phrase, but I still don't know what it means! At least I know what those large white bits are when I butcher the next rooster.
ReplyDeleteI've only rarely heard anyone use the term "the duck's nuts", but I hear "the duck's guts" all the time.
ReplyDeleteI think the phrase started off as "the duck's guts", and referred to duck-liver pate. It was seen as the best, most fancy thing you could serve up - like how we'd talk about the "champagne and caviar" option being the top-of-the-range choice in a product range.
So "duck's guts" was a colloquialism referring to pate, and "duck's nuts" emerged as a more vulgar variation on that, because we like vulgar expressions here in Aus!
I can't verify any of this, though!
Back to the subject - I killed a duck last week and the dog got the testicles as a tasty treat. She loves them!
Darren you are absolutely correct. The "Duck's guts" refers to pāté de foie gras made from ducks' livers a luxury food product which is expensive and not easy to obtain. I think the "duck's nuts" has come about because people just don't understand the original saying.
DeleteDarren you are absolutely correct. The "Duck's guts" refers to pāté de foie gras made from ducks' livers a luxury food product which is expensive and not easy to obtain. I think the "duck's nuts" has come about because people just don't understand the original saying.
DeleteNever heard this expression said by anyone, ever. And I'm an Aussie.
ReplyDelete