The story
From the expression if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Today it means: A form of abductive reasoning, application of intuition, or common sense regardless of technical parameters, to identify an ostensibly unknown subject by observing that subject's characteristics. Full definition →
From the expression if it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it probably is a duck.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.