duck or no dinner

Definitions

1. 1

   Synonym of take it or leave it.

   • "Do you mean it is 'fish or cut bait,' 'duck or no dinner ?'" asked the librarian.
   • You were urged to keep status quo, shut your mouth, and go along with the flow. It was sort of like a Louisiana saying, "It was duck or no dinner."
2. 2

   Alternative form of all duck or no dinner.

   • The same thing that has given a bent to many other minds—necessity. With him it was shoot duck or no dinner.·
   • In Birchley's phrase, there was no stability: 'either duck or no dinner'.
   • Asked by Steadman what he did when Johnson threw at him, Baker replied: "It was either duck or no dinner."

The neighborhood