366. _Ducks and Drakes._--When a man squanders his fortune, he is said
in vulgar parlance to "make ducks and drakes of his money." Does this
odd expression allude to the thoughtless school-boy practice of throwing
stones as nearly as possible on a parallel with the surface of the
water, whose elastic quality causes them frequently to rebound before
they sink? In my younger days this amusement (so to speak) was called
"ducks and drakes."