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Sitting duck

Why can’t people leave them alone? Ah, well, thankfully duck hunting is no longer a popular sport in most parts of the world and, today, when we mention “sitting ducks”, no real ducks, sitting or swimming, are involved. Instead, we are often speaking of people – those folks who have put themselves in a defenseless position, where they are vulnerable to criticism, harm or being cheated.

Or “sitting ducks” may sometimes refer to places. This headline, for instance, from ibnlive.in.com (November 29, 2008):

Mumbai sitting duck for terror attacks

Or “sitting ducks” may refer to things, as evidenced by the example from the top of this page, in which case the PC is seen as a sitting duck – to potential hacker attacks.

Here are media examples of many a various “sitting duck”:

1. Let me count the ways that Rep. Merrill Cook, R-Utah, is walking like a sitting duck, quacking like a sitting duck -- and may be targeted as a sitting duck:

A. The week after he won re-election last year, he forced out two of his top aides.

B. The ousted aides, plus another former chief of staff, accused Cook of acting like a delusional tyrant. They said that days after the election, he still didn't realize it was over and that he had won -- and was ordering harder campaign work.

C. Aides’ credibility seemed bolstered when it was revealed that days before the election, Cook was temporarily banished from Utah GOP headquarters after a profanity-laced tirade complaining about a get-out-the-vote recording that didn’t mention him.