--- In
cybalist@yahoogroups.com, "tgpedersen" <tgpedersen@...> wrote:
>
>
>
> I was wondering if this 'lahme Ente'
> http://tinyurl.com/yspo6n
> is the origin of the Am.-Engl. expression 'lame duck'?
>
> Torsten
>
From Wikipedia:
"The phrase lame duck was coined in the 18th century at the London
Stock Exchange, to refer to a broker who defaulted on his debts. [2]
[3] The first known mention of the term in writing was made by Horace
Walpole, in a letter of 1761 to Sir Horace Mann: "Do you know what a
Bull and a Bear and Lame Duck are?" [4] In the literal sense, it
refers to a duck who is unable to keep up with its flock, making it a
target for predators.
It was transferred to politicians in the 1860s, first being used to
describe US President James Buchanan and his lack of action upon the
secession of the confederate states.[citation needed]."
I suspect the same image of impotence was used in Germany before it
was applied to a streetcar.
Dan