I have had an ongoing argument with a know it all friend about the expression “Straight down the pike.” As in something traveling straight and to the point. He claims it is “Straight down the pipe.” I have heard both. So I am asking the teaming millions which is it?
According to this, it’s “pike.”
Good enough evidence for me, I hope my know it all friend will accept it. Thanks
Actually, it’s straight down the hatch.
We’re looking at three different concepts here. If you mean “directly,” as in the OP, it’s “straight down the (turn)pike.” More on that later.
If you mean “going to waste/failure,” it’s “straight down the pipe/tubes/toilet.”
If you mean “swallowing,” as myles apparently did, it’s “down the hatch.”
Oops. I forgot the turnpike follow-up. For those outside the US, a turnpike is a limited access road. The first turnpike roads were probably private roads, and the entrances were blocked by long wooden rods (pikes.) The attendant would turn the pike to let you in.
Long before that, pikes were weapons of war. They were carried by the lowest grunts of the army, the pikers.