Why does "Kicked the Bucket" mean death.
- Thread starter Waz
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Jeeeeez, I was not sure, either, so I searched!
Turns out to be a no-brainer, lol.
Tie a rope to a wooden beam, put the noose around your neck while standing on a bucket and...
Figure out the rest, lol.
Turns out to be a no-brainer, lol.
Tie a rope to a wooden beam, put the noose around your neck while standing on a bucket and...
Figure out the rest, lol.
The last time I saw a bucket was when I was at the rib cook-off trying to open the lid of a bucket, but all it did was splash a few spots of bbq sauce all over my face, hair and my shirt and some people thought I was actually bleeding! 
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Levonian
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ravensteve1961
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Isnt kick the bucket a game?
TongueOnFire
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kick the bucket
R.D. Floydwrote:
I've always heard that when a person died they kicked the bucket. What is the origin of this expression?
Idioms are elusive things, and sometimes it's extremely hard to track down one indisputable source. Kick the bucket, a venerable slang term meaning 'to die', is so vivid an expression that we tend to think there must be an underlying story. In fact, there has been a certain amount of speculation.
One theory holds that the origins of the phrase lie in the science of animal husbandry. Slaughtered hogs, with their throats slit, were traditionally hung by their heels on a high wooden block. Since they were hoisted to the block by a rope on a pulley--rather like the way one pulls up a bucket from a well--the high block, or beam, came to be known as a bucket. Supposedly, the hogs' dying struggles as they kicked against this so-called bucket led to the birth of the idiom. Not a pretty picture! And not all scholars agree that this is the origin of the term.
The other popular theory relates the phrase to an act of suicide, in which someone stands on a bucket, puts a noose around his or her neck, kicks the bucket away, and dies by hanging. Unfortunately, this theory, in spite of its direct, highly graphic relation to the words in the idiom, is as unsupported as the swinging suicide. And kick the bucket does not normally refer to death by suicide. Indeed, the person who kicks the bucket may do so quite unwillingly.
Death is a subject surrounded by fear and taboos, and this has led to two antithetical ways of avoiding the very words "death" and "die." One device is euphemism. People talk of passing away, passing on (as to an afterlife), departing this life, or, more floridly, going to the great beyond. A doctor may say to a surviving relative, "We lost him." People perish, expire, or breathe their last. The other device is the use of irreverent, slangy, even crude terminology. The idea is to cloak the topic of death in humor. With anything from a casual look or a shrug to a sneer or an expression of shock, someone may say, "Hey, she just croaked, OK?" or, you guessed it, "...kicked the bucket."
here is what that word meaning! wink!! TongueOnFire
R.D. Floydwrote:
I've always heard that when a person died they kicked the bucket. What is the origin of this expression?
Idioms are elusive things, and sometimes it's extremely hard to track down one indisputable source. Kick the bucket, a venerable slang term meaning 'to die', is so vivid an expression that we tend to think there must be an underlying story. In fact, there has been a certain amount of speculation.
One theory holds that the origins of the phrase lie in the science of animal husbandry. Slaughtered hogs, with their throats slit, were traditionally hung by their heels on a high wooden block. Since they were hoisted to the block by a rope on a pulley--rather like the way one pulls up a bucket from a well--the high block, or beam, came to be known as a bucket. Supposedly, the hogs' dying struggles as they kicked against this so-called bucket led to the birth of the idiom. Not a pretty picture! And not all scholars agree that this is the origin of the term.
The other popular theory relates the phrase to an act of suicide, in which someone stands on a bucket, puts a noose around his or her neck, kicks the bucket away, and dies by hanging. Unfortunately, this theory, in spite of its direct, highly graphic relation to the words in the idiom, is as unsupported as the swinging suicide. And kick the bucket does not normally refer to death by suicide. Indeed, the person who kicks the bucket may do so quite unwillingly.
Death is a subject surrounded by fear and taboos, and this has led to two antithetical ways of avoiding the very words "death" and "die." One device is euphemism. People talk of passing away, passing on (as to an afterlife), departing this life, or, more floridly, going to the great beyond. A doctor may say to a surviving relative, "We lost him." People perish, expire, or breathe their last. The other device is the use of irreverent, slangy, even crude terminology. The idea is to cloak the topic of death in humor. With anything from a casual look or a shrug to a sneer or an expression of shock, someone may say, "Hey, she just croaked, OK?" or, you guessed it, "...kicked the bucket."
here is what that word meaning! wink!! TongueOnFire
horselover61
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^Angel^ said:The last time I saw a bucket was when I was at the rib cook-off trying to open the lid of a bucket, but all it did was splash a few spots of bbq sauce all over my face, hair and my shirt and some people thought I was actually bleeding!
Awwwwwwww poor Angel. Next time have a dog with ya and he/she will give ya bath. LOL j/k
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Kicked the bucket is another saying for death.
There's many different sayings for death... as in, The President carked it yesterday - meaning, The President died yesterday.
Using idioms that means death is a better way to say it rather the 'death' word itself.
Idiom puts some humour into everyday sentences.
There's many different sayings for death... as in, The President carked it yesterday - meaning, The President died yesterday.
Using idioms that means death is a better way to say it rather the 'death' word itself.
Idiom puts some humour into everyday sentences.
F
FreeWoman77
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CatoCooper13
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Interesting...although I knew the meaning of 'kicked the bucket', but didn't know where it came from. Learnt something new today, thanks! 
cady75
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Part II
Oops!
by "corked" I mean "croaked"
And here's some more euphemisms I made up-
for the fun of it-
blew the whistle
signed out
pulled the cord
(the kind that has a bell)
rang the bell
on vacation
saying "Hi" to the Big Guy
saying "Hi" to Big Bad
visting St. Paul for tea and crumpets
bought a one way plane ticket
feeding worms
Fin.
he's read the last page
chapter closed
Sooo.. this is so fun!!!
Oops!
by "corked" I mean "croaked"
And here's some more euphemisms I made up-
for the fun of it-
blew the whistle
signed out
pulled the cord
(the kind that has a bell)
rang the bell
on vacation
saying "Hi" to the Big Guy
saying "Hi" to Big Bad
visting St. Paul for tea and crumpets
bought a one way plane ticket
feeding worms
Fin.
he's read the last page
chapter closed
Sooo.. this is so fun!!!