Get their ducks in a row?

Reader question:

Please explain this sentence, with “get their ducks in a row” in particular:

For students, summer is the time to get their ducks in a row.

My comments:

Or summer vacation, rather.

The summer vacation is a lengthy one, in some schools lasting two months. This is a good time for students to lay back, relax and take a good rest but also to recharge and to get prepared for the new school year when summer is over.

Students should reflect on how they did in the past school year and seek improvements where possible.

That is, if they didn’t so well in some classes because they weren’t well prepared the previous summer, they should make necessary changes and, hopefully, do better.

They should get their ducks in a row this time, in other words.

Get their ducks in a row?

This is an idiom inspired by observing a mother duck lining up her ducklings in a straight line whenever they go for a swim or a walk on the bank of a river or lake.

When she starts off walking, or waddling, all her ducklings know to follow her footsteps in an orderly fashion, i.e. one after another in a neat straight line.

How is she able to do that?

Well, Mother Nature is at work here. It’s a skill passed on to her from her mother, obviously. Let’s not ask too many questions here. Let’s just marvel at the fact that every duck mother has the knack of it.

It’s like magic.

It’s amazing.

Anyways, figuratively speaking, having, getting or keeping one’s ducks in a row is synonymous with getting things in order and getting well prepared for an upcoming event or endeavor.

This idiom is believed to find its root in North America in the 19th Century, during which time a lot of duck hunting went on, apparently. In fact, one theory points the idiom’s origin to the prevailing practice of duck hunters laying their loot in a line after a day’s work.

Getting their dead ducks in a row is what every hunter is wont to do today, understandably – to display and show off what a good shot they have been.

Be as it may, I prefer to believe that this idiom was inspired by people simply watching mother ducks lining up their babies before an outing. It’s a simpler explanation and it gives praise to Mother Nature rather than to duck killers.

Anyways, the earliest media citation of “getting their ducks in a row” is this, according to TheIdioms.com:

The earliest known usage of the phrase dates back to the late 19th century. An example from the Plaindealer, a Detroit-based African-American newspaper, dated November 15, 1889, reads:

“In the meantime the Democrats are getting their ducks in a row, and their ticket is promised to be very strong.”

Their “ticket”, by the way, refers to a list of candidates the Democrats were supporting in the election.

Now, let’s read a few recent media examples of people getting their ducks in a row:

1. Although he’s got more than enough on his plate as it is, Donald Trump has now picked a fight with showers in the US.

He's been gambling with a global trade war and toying with the stock market with his tariff plan, although there’s now a 90-day pause for a host of nations.

But while the President is still getting his ducks in a row in this realm, he has instead redirected the MAGA movement to get behind his latest executive order.

Trump told the world he is going to ‘make America’s showers great again’ by switching up the rules surrounding water flow in the US.

You might be wondering why the commander-in-chief would consider this to be a priority during such a hectic period in the political sphere, but in fact, the answer is very simple.

The President explained that his latest measures will allow him to ‘take care of his beautiful hair’ and dually condense the time he spends in the shower. Duh!

Trump explained that he was sick of the lack of water pressure in showers and other household appliances such as toilets and sinks in the States.

It’s an issue he has long complained about, as he claimed that Americans were ‘flushing toilets 10 times, 15 times, as opposed to once’ back in 2019.

Water restrictions were first brought in by President George HW Bush in 1992, after he signed the Energy Policy Act.

It meant that new toilets couldn’t use more than 1.6 gallons of water per flush, while shower heads weren’t allowed to produce more than 2.5 gallons of water per minute.

When Barack Obama was in office, he redefined these rules as part of his Energy Conservation Program, so that the water efficiency rules would apply to all nozzles on a shower head rather than each individual one.

At the end of his first term in 2020, Trump wanted to change this again so that each nozzle was allowed to shoot out up to 2.5 gallons a minute – however, Joe Biden later blocked this during his presidency.

Now he’s back in the White House, Trump wants to put a stop to what he described as the ‘war on showers’ which was supposedly orchestrated by his predecessors.

In the Oval Office on Wednesday (9 April), he signed an executive order to reverse these restrictions on water pressure and discussed how he hopes it will make his haircare routine easier.

“In my case, I like to take a nice shower, take care of my beautiful hair,” the President said. “I have to stand under the shower for 15 minutes until it gets wet. It comes out like ‘drip, drip, drip’. It’s ridiculous.”

- Trump signs executive order to 'protect his beautiful hair' as he declares 'war on showers', LADBible.com, April 10, 2025.

2. Prince William has opened up about his approach to his royal role, revealing: “I’m trying to do it differently, and I’m trying to do it for my generation.”

And behind palace walls, sources tell RadarOnline.com the future British monarch is already carving this path – by maintaining a private calendar of engagements and quietly preparing for the day he ascends the throne, all while tension with his cancer-stricken father King Charles continues to grow.

The royal rift has intensified in recent months, with insiders claiming William, 41, and Charles, 75, are running entirely separate operations, with the heir to the throne refusing to coordinate even the basics of his schedule with his father’s team.

“He’s incredibly private and strong-willed,” a palace flunkie said. “William’s been keeping his official calendar under wraps – even from Charles’ staff – because he doesn’t want any interference. It’s like he’s already acting like the monarch in waiting.”

While Charles remains king, despite his ongoing cancer battle, insiders say he is not ready to step aside – even as William begins to position himself for the next chapter of the monarchy.

“Charles has waited his entire life to wear the crown,” a senior royal source added. “He’s not going to let illness or his son’s ambition get in the way of fulfilling his destiny.

“The reality is, Charles and William are rivals now. William isn’t taking direction from Charles – not professionally and certainly not personally. They rarely collaborate anymore.”

According to royal commentator Richard Fitzwilliams, Charles had hoped William would start absorbing some of his duties – particularly his 500-plus patronages.

But the Prince of Wales is charting a new course with the help of his wife Kate Middleton.

“William is focused on quality over quantity,” a source close to the royals said. “He and Princess Kate want to support fewer causes, but dive deeper into the issues they care most about. It’s about relevance, not tradition.”

This divergence is evident in their approaches to royal life.

While Charles is known to be a tireless workaholic, often blurring the lines between public and private time, William is fiercely protective of his home life.

“He puts up firm boundaries,” a friend of his and Kate’s said, adding about his approach to their three kids: “He’s determined to give Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis a childhood that’s worlds apart from his own.”

The unspoken issue that continues to hang over the monarchy is succession.

While the topic is rarely addressed directly, insiders say it is a major source of strain.

“It’s a hugely sensitive subject,” a courtier said. “They tiptoe around it, but everyone knows the day will come – and William is already getting his ducks in a row.”

- Fresh Royal Feud Erupts as Heir Prince William is ‘Running Secret Diary’ While He ‘Waits for King Charles to Die’, RadarOnline.com, June 3 2025.

3. With the recent news regarding The Late Show With Stephen Colbert’s cancellation, comedian and TV host Stephen Colbert has gotten an outpouring of love from both famous friends and loyal supporters of the long-running television show – but it’s the love he’s got at home that’s perhaps the most meaningful in the wake of the disappointing news. Colbert has been married to his wife, Evelyn “Evie” McGee Colbert, since the early 90s, and their marriage has stood the test of time as they navigated parenthood, career changes and all that life has thrown their way. Here, read all about Stephen Colbert’s marriage, wife and family life.

For this beloved host, when he first crossed paths with his wife, it was love at first sight. Stephen spotted Evelyn in the lobby of a theater where they were both seeing a musical, and spotting her again at the afterparty, he knew he couldn’t let her slip away without introducing himself. “He walked in with his mother on his arm. I was thinking, ‘That man loves his mother,’” Evelyn remembered in an interview with Montclair Local. Coincidentally, Stephen had returned to his hometown, as he was deciding whether he wanted to continue to progress the relationship he was in with his current girlfriend at the time. As fate would have it, he ended it with the woman he was seeing and soon enough, he and Evelyn would tie the knot.

When asked how she knew he was the one on Oprah’s Next Chapter, Evie complimented her husband, saying, “How kind and generous he is, how smart he is.” She continued, “He’s so silly. You have to love the silly.”

Evie and her husband are Mom and Dad to Peter, John and Madeline, and the Late Show host has gotten candid about parenthood over the years, especially the difference between raising sons and daughters. “She came out almost like, complete,” Colbert said of his eldest girl in a conversation with Seth Meyers on The Late Show. “Like, she came out with a library card. She was organized. Evie and I are both youngest, and she’s an eldest, and therefore, we just do whatever she says. We have no chance against her. The nice thing about the girl being first, in my opinion, is, because they’re more organized, they know what they’re doing, they’ve just got their ducks in a row the way the boys almost never do. If we just want something to happen with the family, all we have to do is convince her.”

- After ‘Late Show’ News, Stephen Colbert Leans on the Real Love That’s Carried Him for 30 Years—His Wife Evie, WomansWorld.com, July 25, 2025.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

（作者：张欣）