DUCK SOUP???

Duck Soup… What does it mean?

I grew up in Upstate, New York, within 10 miles of the capital, Albany. We, like many other older industrial and manufacturing cities, have a strong history of sports and gambling, as well as bars and churches, but that’s for another time. If you can think of it, we put money on it. Sure, we had the traditional sports gambling: lines, spreads, square pools, parlay cards, etc. but, that was just scratching the surface. Lesser-known games like Liars Poker and Hozzie bled from the back rooms of bars and taverns to parks and schools where we played them…until we were old enough to join in.

By the time we were old enough to drive, we had a PhD in gambling and wagering. There aren’t many places where you owe your friend and bookie school lunches for a month because you were on a cold streak in college football and the NFL. Thank God there weren’t iPhones or mobile wagering then. Like having an older sibling or relative by your alcohol, we had those same people go to OTB and put money on our “phone-a-bet” account.

So, to get to your question, what does “duck soup” mean? Simply put, it means mushed, screwed, or no shot at winning. Do you remember Eddie the Mush from The Bronx Tale? If duck soup were a person, it would be him. We have a similar guy in my hometown. He couldn’t pick a winner if he already knew the result. When he’d shoot darts on Friday nights, after the third dart was thrown, he’d wave at the board in disgust and say “Ahh, duck soup”. It can be used in many terms, but it always means a loser.

Here are a few examples:

                  “The 3-horse never got outta the gates, it’s duck soup.”

                  “He fumbled?!? This ticket’s duck soup.”

                  “You bet the Knicks… duck soup.”

                  “Tommy’s on the Red Sox. I’ll take the Yanks, he’s duck soup.”

Stick around and let’s have some fun.