ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard

Literally, “to not break three feet of a duck”; because ducks are bipeds, it would be quite out of the ordinary to break a third foot. Another explanation is that it derives from the similar-sounding cagnard (“crooked horse”), in allusion to a horse rider: only a daring rider would risk pushing his horse to the point where it breaks one or more legs.

• IPA^(key): /nə pa ka.se tʁwa pat a œ̃ ka.naʁ/, /nə pɑ ka.se tʁwa pat a œ̃ ka.naʁ/

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ne pas casser trois pattes à un canard

1. to be nothing to write home about (to be mediocre; to be nothing out of the ordinary; to be nothing special)