• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to footer
Zippy Facts Logo

Zippy Facts

Interesting Random Facts

  • Animals
  • Culture
  • Firsts
  • Food
  • Geography
  • Health
  • History
  • Inventions
  • Language
  • Mythology
  • Odds
  • People
  • Religion
  • Science
  • Space
  • Universe
  • World
You are here: Home / Language / Where does the expression “to kick the bucket” come from and What does it mean?

Where does the expression “to kick the bucket” come from and What does it mean?

March 28, 2020 by Karen Hill

At best, the expression “to kick the bucket” is a disrespectful synonym for “to die.”

Perhaps if we used it only of animals, or especially of animals slaughtered for food we might approach a literal meaning and the phrase would lose its humorous concept.

The evidence on the original meaning is slight and perhaps future etymologists will find other and stronger clues for another interpretation. This evidence is that “bucket,” in this phrase, refers to a beam or yoke on which anything may be hung or carried.

This evidence is supported by Levin’s Dictionarie of English and Latine Wordes, published in 1570, and also by Shakespeare’s use of “bucket” in Henry IV, “Swifter than hee that gibbets on the brewers bucket.”

Further evidence appeared in Notes & Queries about 1860, in which a correspondent stated that even at that time in East Anglia “to kick the bucket” alluded to the way in which a slaughtered pig is hung up.

His explanation was that “bucket” referred to a bent piece of wood placed behind the tendons of the hind legs of the pig by which the animal was suspended to a hook in a beam. Probably the dying convulsive struggles of the pig became the literal origin of the phrase.

It is interesting to note that a recent correspondent to Notes & Queries (April 19, 1947), who signs his communication the initials “C.T.S,” advances the theory that the expression comes from an old custom observed in the Catholic church.

He says: “After death, when the body had been laid out, a cross and two lighted candles were placed near it, and in addition to these the holy-water bucket was brought from the church and put at the feet of the corpse. When friends came to pray for the deceased, before leaving the room they would sprinkle the body with holy water.

So intimately therefore was the bucket associated with the feet of deceased persons that it is easy to see how the saying came about.”

Related Facts

  • Where does the expression "till the cows come home" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out flat footed" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "to come out at the little end of the horn" come from and What does it mean?
  • Where does the expression "come off your perch" come from and What does it mean?
  • What does the expression "to get one's come uppance" mean and Where does it come from?
  • Where does the expression "to be ahead of the game" come from and What does to come out ahead mean?

Filed Under: Language

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

Previous Post: « What does the idiom “three sheets in the wind” mean and Where does it come from?
Next Post: Where does the phrase “a peeping Tom” come from and What does it mean? »

Footer

Follow

  • Facebook
  • Flickr
  • GitHub
  • Google+
  • Instagram
  • LinkedIn
  • Medium
  • Pinterest
  • StumbleUpon
  • Tumblr
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Categories

Accomplishments Animals Culture Firsts Food Geography Health History Inventions Language Mythology Odds People Religion Science Space Universe World Your Body

About

Zippy Facts empowers the world by serving educational content that is accessible to everyone.

A tribute to growing up, zippyfacts.com showcases interesting and unusual facts about the world.

Our mission is to use technology to facilitate knowledge transfer and sharing.

Copyright © 2021 Zippy Facts

  • About Us
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy