ProverbWisdomAmerican origin1946

If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, and quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck

Meaning: When multiple observable qualities align, trust the evidence rather than disputing the apparent nature of something.

Origin: The "duck test," a form of reasoning from obvious evidence. The poet James Whitcomb Riley may have coined an early version, and a union leader, Emil Mazey, used it in 1946. The U.S. ambassador to Guatemala, Richard Cunningham Patterson Jr., popularized it in 1950 when accusing that country's government of communism.

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