Green’s Dictionary of Slang

weak, useless, inferior.

1920		F.S. Fitzgerald ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair’ in Bodley Head Scott Fitzgerald V (1963) 91: No girl can permanently bolster up a lame-duck visitor.
1963		B. Hecht Gaily, Gaily 141: Most of the divorces of theater and movie stars are the result of such lame-duck alliances.
1985		N.Y. Times 21 Nov. n.p.: I don’t want to be pushed prematurely into lame-duck status [R].
2000		N. Barlay Crumple Zone 31: Making a big show of knowing the difference between Alvin’s lame duck Christian act and G’s supercharged crackhead rap.