The name is a reference to a story from the book “The pragmatic programmer” in which a programmer will carry a rubber duck and debug their code by explaining the line by line to the duck.
Many programmers have the habit of explaining their code to someone who don’t even understand the programming language. It can be even with their cat or dog. Teaching a subject forces it’s evaluation from different perspective and can provide deeper understanding.
The original term for this technique is called “Desk check your code “
Are you ready for the Rubber Duck Debugging?