Arguing About The Ducky Spoon Family Heirloom
A2 English listening practice · Australian English · Curated for beginners
Why do Australians say 'ducky' instead of 'duck'?
Australians love to add -y or -ie to the end of a word. Brekkie means breakfast, arvo means afternoon, sunnies means sunglasses, barbie means BBQ, bickie means biscuit. Add -y to duck and you get ducky, a soft, friendly word. Little ducky can be a pet’s name, a child’s toy, or, in this clip, a spoon someone has loved since they were a baby.
The fun here is the fight. She calls it her ducky spoon, but her friends keep saying “I think that’s a rabbit.” She searches online, and it really is Peter Rabbit. “This might be the worst day of my life,” she jokes. The spoon is still hers — it just has a new name.
Vocabulary frequency
How common is the vocabulary in this A2 English listening practice listening practice?
General English frequency
Spoken English frequency
Words above this video’s level
Quick glosses for vocabulary that goes beyond this video’s A2 level.
Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-US 2012 (spoken). Buckets approximate; exact ranks not stored.
- ▸In Australian sitcoms and kids' TV like Kath & Kim and Bluey on ABC where characters use -y nicknames every other line
- ▸On Australian morning radio on Triple M and KIIS 1065 when hosts call each other darl, love, or ducky
- ▸In British and Australian children’s books, from Beatrix Potter tales to The Wiggles picture books, where animal pet names lean cute
- ▸In Australian family chat at brekkie, smoko (tea break), or arvo tea when grandparents call kids little ducky or little possum