📖 Meaning
Water slides right off a duck's back without soaking in. This idiom describes something that passes through a person's mind without leaving any impression or being retained at all. It is often used to criticize superficial learning or a total failure to absorb information.
📜 Origin Story
There is no recorded classical literary source for this idiom. It originates from folk observation of nature: ducks have oily, waterproof feathers, and water beads up and rolls off their backs without being absorbed. This vivid natural image was adopted into everyday speech to describe a person who hears or reads something but retains nothing, much like water that vanishes from a duck's back the moment it passes over.
💡 Example Usage
老师苦口婆心地劝了他半天，结果全是水过鸭背，他一句也没听进去。
The teacher earnestly advised him for a long time, but it was all water off a duck's back — he didn't take in a single word.
🏷️ Category
➕ Similar Idioms
➖ Opposite Idioms
🔤 Quick Facts
- Chinese: 水过鸭背
- Pinyin: shuǐ guò yā bèi
- Literal Translation: water, over, duck, back
- Category: Learning
- Characters: 4