Ducks and drakes

Ducks and drakes is an old English pastime consisting in throwing a flat stone or the like over the surface of water so that it skips as many times as possible before sinking. The phrase dates from the late 16th century and derives from the antics of waterfowl splashing around. When wealthy people used coins instead of stones, it soon acquired the meaning of squandering or throwing something away recklessly. This is recorded in George Chapman Eastward Ho (1605) Act I, Scene I. “Be like gentlemen, be idle, make ducks and drakes with shillings.” By the 17th century, to play ducks and drakes acquired the meaning of trifling with or treating someone as if they were of no importance.