Ducks

[marnanel]

Scene: A shop in Woking, today.

Assistant: That'll be £5, please.
Me: I was wondering. You know you have some rubber ducks for sale?
Assistant: Yes?
Me: Well, I was wondering... why are rubber ducks always yellow? I mean, have you ever seen a yellow duck? Ducks are brown, or there are the ones with green heads, but I've never met a yellow one.
Assistant: Hm. I've seen yellow ducks on the Thames.
Me: Really? Kit, could we go and look at the Thames this afternoon?
Kit: Maybe!
Assistant: Yes-- fluffy yellow ones. You know, the ducklings.
Me: Wait! You're right! Baby ducks are yellow! I was thinking of the adults. So rubber ducks are supposed to be ducklings, even the big ones?
Assistant: I think so, yes.
Me: Thank you! You've solved a mystery for me. What a helpful person!

Comments

[azurelunatic]

And yellow ducklings grow up into white ducks; the ducklings for the mallards (green-head male, brown female) only have yellow fronts, but dark brown backs and eye-stripes.

[naath]

Rubber ducks come in lots of colours... but yes, mostly of them are yellow.

[jack]

So rubber ducks are supposed to be ducklings, even the big ones?

Sort of. But I assumed the original rubber ducks were small and yellow to model ducklings -- after all, ducklings are a lot cuter than ducks. And then rubber ducks being yellow just became the norm, and people would automatically choose yellow without thinking whether that was a realistic depiction of a duck or not.