# Have you heard the term Swamp Duck **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [November 29, 2023, 7:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870 "2023-11-29T19:24:07Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![John\_DiFool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_difool/32/19543_2.png) [@John\_DiFool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_DiFool)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/21 "2023-11-30T02:50:26Z")
[![](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/DUKW.image2.army.jpg) ](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a7/DUKW.image2.army.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 2:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/22 "2023-11-30T02:52:04Z")
In a native Floridian, where there’s lots of swamps, but I’ve never heard the term. (Although I do know that “square grouper” refers to bales of marijuana smuggled into the country from boats and airplanes, which would be thrown overboard when intercepted) ---
**Author:** ![scudsucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/scudsucker/32/14101_2.png) [@scudsucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scudsucker)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/23 "2023-11-30T04:33:55Z")
I’ve been lucky enough to go on a short cruise on one of those. I was eleven, and in the UK. Sadly for me they had repainted it bright yellow, so not the original drap green. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/24 "2023-11-30T04:49:34Z")
Swamp rabbits is another term I’ve heard. It means tough and wiry. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/25 "2023-11-30T04:56:27Z")
Never heard of it. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [November 30, 2023, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/26 "2023-11-30T05:05:49Z")
The first thing that came to mind was a Marvel/DC crossover “What If…” story: _What If Howard The Duck Became Swamp Thing?_ ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/27 "2023-12-01T00:04:10Z")
I thought swamp rabbits were [the reason why we need the Secret Service?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342110/what-was-the-deal-with-jimmy-carter-and-the-killer-rabbit) ---
**Author:** ![Alpha\_Twit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alpha_twit/32/265_2.png) [@Alpha\_Twit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alpha_Twit)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/28 "2023-12-01T15:16:32Z")
Never heard the term before but the first thing that came to mind was the image of a specialized kind of watercraft / tractor hybrid as seen [HERE.](https://www.youtube.com/shorts/N1jfxj0FSfE) For those who don’t wish to follow a YouTube link, imagine a basic, shallow draft, squarish boat. Instead of a typical outboard motor, it’s equipped with a large, hydraulically driven metal wheel at the stern. the wheel is designed to drop through the water and right down the the muddy bottom. It’s not fast but darn near unstoppable then things get swampy. The above video shows them used for crawfish harvesting but I’ve also seen them in cranberry bogs. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [December 1, 2023, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/29 "2023-12-01T18:30:30Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > The first thing that came to mind was a Marvel/DC crossover “What If…” story: _What If Howard The Duck Became Swamp Thing?_ I would buy that graphic novel. > [@Chronos](#): > > I thought swamp rabbits were [the reason why we need the Secret Service?](https://www.straightdope.com/21342110/what-was-the-deal-with-jimmy-carter-and-the-killer-rabbit) I have two stories about swamp rabbits… Once, when I was young, I was strolling through the woods and came upon a hollow stump about 3" tall. I walked over to it and peered in. There was a swamp rabbit nestled inside. I picked it up by it’s ears and it promptly turned my forearm into hamburger with it’s hind legs. I had no Secret Service… or paddle. Another time while walking in those same woods in the dead of winter, I startled a swamp rabbit and it darted away from me towards a small, frozen creek. It jumped onto ice at the bank, and broke through. It continued swimming, under the ice, until it reached the other side and which point it broke out and continued to run away. ---
**Author:** ![EnolaStraight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/41988e/32.png) [@EnolaStraight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EnolaStraight)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2023, 1:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870/30 "2023-12-06T01:27:36Z")
I figured it was the nick-name given to those propeller boats in the Everglades. [airboat-939964\_1920500x500.jpg (500×500) (educationaldiscoverytours.com)](https://www.educationaldiscoverytours.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/airboat-939964_1920500x500.jpg) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-you-heard-the-term-swamp-duck/993870.md?page=1)