Thomas Otway? Thomas Brand? George Colman? Theodore Hook? Anonymous?
Question for Quote Investigator: When the answer to a question is obviously affirmative the respondent can employ a rhetorical phrase from a family that includes these three examples:
Is water wet?
Is the Pope a Catholic?
Can a duck swim?
Apparently, these types of catchphrases have been circulating for many decades. The “duck” phrase seems particularly old. Would you please explore its provenance?
Reply from Quote Investigator: There are diverse ways to express this interrogative. Here are five examples:
Will a duck swim?
Can a duck swim?
Would a duck swim?
Does a duck swim?
Could a duck swim?
The earliest match known to QI occurred in a play published in 1680 titled “The History and Fall of Caius Marius: A Tragedy” by English dramatist Thomas Otway. In the following dialogue the character Lavin was hoping to rendezvous with the character Marius. Boldface added to excepts by QI:1
Lavin. Nay, prithee be not angry, Nurse; I meant No ill. Speak kindly, will my Marius come?
Nurse. Will he? will a Duck swim?
Lavin. Then he will come.
Nurse. Come? why, he will come upon all four, but he’ll come. Go, get you in, and say your Prayers: go.
Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.
In 1787 surgeon Thomas Brand published “Strictures in Vindication of Some of the Doctrines Misrepresented by Mr. Foot in His Two Pamphlets” which contained the following passage:2
“For example, (says Mr. Foot, p. 13) if one of his domestics were asked whether the professor was not a great anatomist? The answer in all probability would be, can a duck swim! But if the same domestic were asked if he be a learned writer, and a man of great judgment? There this very proverb would fail in the application, it would stick in his throat, for it would not confirm him in these excellencies.”
In 1788 “Tit for Tat: A Comedy in Three Acts” by George Colman contained the following dialog:3
Old Meanwell. … In the mean time, will you take any refreshment after your journey?
Skipwell. “Will a duck swim?” — I never refuses to crack a bottle with an honest fellow, for I love to wet my whistle.
In 1833 “The Irish Penny Magazine” contained a story titled “The Sportheen” by M.R. which used eye dialect and included an instance of the catchphrase:4
“Well, Katty repated the words — ‘will you do my sisther the honor ov dancin’ wid hur?’
“‘Would a duck swim?’ ses Mick smirkin’ …
In 1842 “All in the Wrong; Or Births, Deaths, and Marriages” by Theodore Hook contained the following passage:5
“Well, Brassey,” said Jacob, knocking away the end of his cigar, “you have read over the draft of the settlement to Mrs. C.?”
“Does a duck swim?” said Brassey, giving forth a puff which would have made the funnel of a steam-boat jealous.
In 1887 “Sketches and Impressions: Musical, Theatrical, and Social (1799-1885)” contained the following passage:6
She chucked me under the chin and said laughingly “Do you think you could eat a nice piece of mince-pie?” Could a duck swim? thought I, but only said very modestly, “Yes, if you please.”
In conclusion, this catchphrase was used in a play by Thomas Otway in 1680. QI conjectures that the catchphrase was already circulating, and Otway was not the originator. Variant phrasings proliferated during subsequent decades.
Image Notes: Picture of a duck paddling from Elena G at Unsplash. The image has been cropped and resized.
Acknowledgement: Great thanks to quotation expert Nigel Rees whose inquiry about the phrase “Is the Pope a Catholic?” led QI to explore the family of expressions called sarcastic interrogatives. Rees’s book “Dictionary of Catchphrases” contains a helpful entry about this phrase. Also, thanks to researcher Pascal Tréguer whose “Word Histories” website contains a webpage about this phrase which includes the key 1680 citation and other valuable information. In addition, thanks to researcher Jonathon Green who examined this phrase in “Green’s Dictionary of Slang” which contains a helpful entry with citations beginning in 1808.
- 1680, Title: The History and Fall of Caius Marius: A Tragedy, As It Is Acted at the Duke’s Theatre, Author: Thomas Otway, Scene: Metellus house, Quote Page 33, Publisher: Printed for Tho. Flesher, at the Angel and Crown in S. Paul’s Church-yard, London. (ProQuest; EEBO Early English Books Online) ↩︎
- 1787, Strictures in Vindication of Some of the Doctrines Misrepresented by Mr. Foot in His Two Pamphlets by T. Brand (Thomas Brand) (Member of the Corporation of Surgeons, London, and Surgeon Extraordinary to his Majesty’s Royal Hospital at Greenwich, Quote Page 47, Printed for G. Nicol, Bookseller to his Majesty, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1788, Title: Tit for Tat: A Comedy in Three Acts. Performed at the Theatres Royal, Hay-Market, Drury-Lane AND Covent-Garden, Author: George Colman, Act 1, Scene 1, Publisher: Printed for C. Dilly, London (ProQuest; EEBO Early English Books Online) ↩︎
- 1833 April 20, The Irish Penny Magazine, The Sportheen by M.R., Start Page 126, Quote Page 127, Thomas and John Coldwell, Dublin, Ireland. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1842, All in the Wrong; Or Births, Deaths, and Marriages by Theodore Hook (Theodore Edward Hook), Chapter 4, Quote Page 218, Richard Bentley, London. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
- 1887, Sketches and Impressions: Musical, Theatrical, and Social (1799-1885) by R. Osgood Mason, Including a Sketch of The Philharmonic Society of New York, From the After-Dinner Talk of Thomas Goodwin (Music Librarian), Chapter 9, Quote Page 63, G. P. Putnam’s Sons, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎