Years ago, standing in the kitchen with my grandmother, she said, "She tore out of here like a ruptured duck." It wasn't the first time she'd said it, but that particular time I remembered it. Like you remember things you never want to forget. I remembered the way she grinned and the way we laughed after she'd said it. I asked her what it meant and she said it was just an old saying.
I loved it, whatever it was. I even mentioned it at her funeral, and it makes me smile even now, thinking of her standing in front of her blue refrigerator, slippers on her feet, hair perfectly combed...laughing with me.
Tonight I'm writing a scene that takes place in a retirement home and I thought I'd introduce her phrase, but wanted to know where it came from. It turns out it has military significance. The term comes from World War II when honorably discharged veterans with limited funds had to wear their uniforms after they'd been released. By wearing a special pin or patch with the "ruptured duck" insignia on it they could do so. You can learn more at this site or here. If you search the origin of the nickname you'll see several different answers, one involving Hedy Lamarr.
But frankly, the phrase belongs to my grandmother, in her kitchen, years ago.
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