Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I believe that the phrase is meant to teach English phrases, not Chinese ones? In this case, they translate the English expression to Chinese, then explain the use of the English expression (which, in the case of “ducks and drakes”, does not translate directly into Chinese). See, e.g., WWW’s explanation of “ducks and drakes” here: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-duc3.htm
I’d think you were right, except that I encountered the phrase 打水漂 when I was reading something in Chinese. And if memory serves, the latter definition actually made sense. So it does actually end up getting used in Chinese… at least sometimes 🙂
I believe this refers to “skipping stones” in English.
Perhaps I’m mistaken, but I believe that the phrase is meant to teach English phrases, not Chinese ones? In this case, they translate the English expression to Chinese, then explain the use of the English expression (which, in the case of “ducks and drakes”, does not translate directly into Chinese). See, e.g., WWW’s explanation of “ducks and drakes” here: http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-duc3.htm
I’d think you were right, except that I encountered the phrase 打水漂 when I was reading something in Chinese. And if memory serves, the latter definition actually made sense. So it does actually end up getting used in Chinese… at least sometimes 🙂