ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard

French edit

Etymology edit

Literally, “to not break three feet of a duck”; because ducks are bipeds, it would be quite out of the ordinary to break a third foot. Another explanation is that it derives from the similar-sounding cagnard (“crooked horse”), in allusion to a horse rider: only a daring rider would risk pushing his horse to the point where it breaks one or more legs.

Pronunciation edit

IPA^(key): /nə pa ka.se tʁwa pat a œ̃ ka.naʁ/, /nə pɑ ka.se tʁwa pat a œ̃ ka.naʁ/
Audio (file)

Verb edit

ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard

to be nothing to write home about (to be mediocre; to be nothing out of the ordinary; to be nothing special)