Meanings
- Australiapluralplural onlyA coded warning used by men to alert each other that female guests ("ducks") are present ("on the pond"), so that for politeness they should moderate their language.
Usually the wool presser calls first, because most visitors to a shed come through the wool room. ‘Ducks on the Pond!’ he calls, and the warning is taken up again down along the shearing board.
1982, Patsy Adam-Smith, The Shearers, Thomas Nelson Australia, →ISBN, page 245Synonyms: ducks have landed, feathers flying, they're on the pond
- pluralplural onlyball gamesMembers of a batting order who are on base; baserunners.
There are two ducks on the pond for the cleanup hitter.
- pluralplural onlyCar SalesThere are customers arriving on the car lot.
Ducks on the pond. Who is up?
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA coded warning used by men to alert each other that female guests ("ducks") are present ("on the pond"), so that for politeness they should moderate their language.
Origin
* (coded warning): Originally used in shearing sheds; later extended to other normally all-male environments, such as some pubs.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
ducks on the pond. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ducks%20on%20the%20pond
“ducks on the pond.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ducks%20on%20the%20pond. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “ducks on the pond,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/ducks%20on%20the%20pond.
Source: ducks on the pond on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.