🗓️ Idiom: Like a Sitting Duck (phrase)
💬 Meaning
- Feeling exposed or unable to protect yourself from stress or problems.
- Being in a situation where you can’t defend yourself easily.
🧠 Example Sentences
- When the company started cutting jobs, many employees felt like sitting ducks waiting for the news.
- Without proper support from her team, she felt like a sitting duck during the busy season.
- He realised he was like a sitting duck for stress because he never said no to extra work.
🏛️ Origin
This idiom comes from hunting. A “sitting duck” is an easy target because it is not flying away. It now describes people who are in a weak or helpless position, unable to protect themselves from problems or stress.
📝 Practice Exercises
1. Fill in the blank:
Without a clear plan to manage deadlines, the whole team felt ________ for burnout.
Answer
like sitting ducks
2. Choose the correct answer:
What does “like a sitting duck” mean in a work situation?
a) Feeling safe and supported
b) Feeling unable to protect yourself something negative
c) Feeling relaxed and confident
Answer
b) Feeling unable to protect yourself something negative
3. Change the sentence using “like a sitting duck”:
“It was obviously her that made the mistake.”
Answer
She was like sitting duck because the mistake was obviously done by her .
ℹ️ Other Useful Pages
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👉 Stress Management Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
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Rob is a CELTA qualified English teacher with 15 years of international experience. He has a BSc and PGDip from Loughborough and St Andrews universities in the UK. He has taught in Thailand and Saudi Arabia and now works with professionals worldwide.
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