Lame duck

Origin of: Lame duck

Lame duck

A lame duck is an ineffectual, weak person and the expression dates from the late 1500s. It was also stockbroker slang from the 1760s for a defaulter. This stockbroker slang is sometimes cited as the origin but this is highly unlikely as duck or ducks has been a term of endearment since the late 1500s. One suspects that a lame duck was an ineffectual, weak person long before stockbrokers applied the expression to clients who defaulted on them during the mid-18th century.