"Someday you will get your ducks in a row." What does this mean?

Question

I would appreciate some interpretations

Answer 1

I've heard and used this term for years and MY thinking of it is....."some day you'll get your act together" OR it could mean you make sure everything is lined up so there is no room for misunderstandings.

Answer 2

What is the origin of "ducks in a row"??
(Etymology)

1. Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, ISBN 0-06-270133-9

An American expression meaning to have one's arrangements completed, to have things organized or lined up; or, literally, to have one's skittles set up. In an American bowling alley the skittles, or pins, are called ducks.

2. From the Phrase Finder Forum

Primitive versions of modern bowling were known many centuries ago. Pins of varied sizes and shapes were employed. Eventually they were standardized at fifteen inches in both height and circumstances. Originally called ten-pins, the equipment used in Europe was employed in the earliest American bowling saloons. The game was modified by introduction of a short, slender pin that was compared with a duck and, by extension, called them duckpins. So many people reset so many pins in rows that one who completes a task is commended as having put his 'ducks in a row.'

http://phrases.shu.ac.uk/bulletin_board/4/messages/707.html

3. From the Forty Ducks page

How simple it seemed. My marks were excellent. The second year, reading Caesar's Gallic wars was not. That's where "Forty Ducks in a Row" came into being. Caesar's Latin actually read, "Forte Dux in Aro" - translated to "Brave Leader in Battle". We wise guys merely visualized it the other way perhaps because it was easier to remember.

http://www.backinthebronx.com/magazine/issue.XXI/fortyducks.htm

4. From Chuck Moreland's Phrases with Origings page

Baby ducklings swim in a straight line behind the mother duck. If the ducklings stray to far, the mother duck will get them back in line, that is get her ducks in a row.

http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOriginsData.htm#DucksInARow

5. Other possibilities
1. As a nickname for the soldiers of the Bombay Presidency
2. From a children's game called "duckstones"
3. From an arcade game of marksmanship involving plastic ducks
4. From a sailor's trousers, called "ducks".
5. From military tents made of untwiled linen
6. From a tank (or similar military vehicle) formation
7. From the formation ducks use when flying low over water

Answer 3

Get organized for efficiency is my interpretation:

"“Ducks in a Row, Get/Put Your - Primitive versions of modern bowling were known many centuries ago. Pins of varied sizes and shapes were employed. Eventually they were standardized at fifteen inches in both height and circumstances. Originally called ten-pins, the equipment used in Europe was employed in the earliest American bowling saloons. The game was modified by introduction of a short, slender pin that was compared with a duck and, by extension, called them duckpins. So many people reset so many pins in rows that one who completes a task is commended as having put his ‘ducks in a row.’”"

Answer 4

Getting your ducks in a row may be describing a hunter being able to shoot ducks efficiently when placed in a row, unlike when the ducks are scattered about, or may be describing when the mother duck has the ducklings follow her when walking or swimming to keep them all together...either situation is symbolic of putting things in order so as to proceed smoothly.

Answer 5

I think it means that one day you will have everything in your life go smoothly. All of your dreams and aspirations will finally come to fruition.

Answer 6

organize your life