ugly duckling

English

WOTD – 27 October 2009

Etymology

Calque of Danish grim ælling. From the fairy tale of a duckling, considered ugly, that matures into a magnificent swan.

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Noun

ugly duckling (plural ugly ducklings)

(idiomatic) A young person who is ugly, but who is expected to become beautiful as they mature.

Translations

one who is ugly, but who is expected to become beautiful as they mature

Afrikaans: please add this translation if you can
Amharic: አስቀያሚ ሲንድሬላ (ʾäsḳäyami sindrela)
Arabic: بَطَّة قَبِيحَة‎ f (baṭṭa(t) qabīḥa)
Bulgarian: грозно патенце n (grozno patence)
Catalan: aneguet lleig m, anegueta lletja f
Chinese:
Mandarin: 醜小鴨 (zh), 丑小鸭 (zh) (chǒuxiǎoyā)
Czech: ošklivé káčátko n
Danish: grim ælling c
Dutch: lelijk eendje n
Esperanto: malbela anasido
Estonian: inetu pardipoeg
Finnish: ruma ankanpoikanen
French: vilain petit canard (fr) m, vilaine petite canarde f
German: hässliches Entlein n
Greek: ασχημόπαπο (el) n (aschimópapo)
Icelandic: Ijóti andarunginn m
Indonesian: itik buruk rupa

Italian: brutto anatroccolo m, brutta anatrocolla f
Japanese: みにくいアヒルの子 (minikui ahiru no ko)
Korean: 미운 오리 새끼 (miun ori saekki)
Macedonian: грдо пајче n (g'rdo pájče)
Norwegian: stygg andunge m
Persian: please add this translation if you can
Polish: brzydkie kaczątko (pl) n
Portuguese: patinho feio m, patinha feia f
Romanian: ratusca cea urata f
Russian: га́дкий утёнок m (gádkij utjónok)
Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
Slovak: škaredé kačiatko n
Spanish: patito feo m, patita fea f
Swedish: ful ankunge c
Thai: please add this translation if you can
Turkish: çirkin ördek yavrusu
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can
Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

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