# Why does "Kicked the Bucket" mean death. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 17, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589 "2005-02-17T19:36:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/1 "2005-02-17T19:36:30Z")
How did the phrase Kicked the Bucket come to mean that a person died. What is the bucket? I’ve actually kicked a bucket or two and the most I ever got was a stubbed toe and a wet floor. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/2 "2005-02-17T19:53:44Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > How did the phrase Kicked the Bucket come to mean that a person died. > > What is the bucket? I’ve actually kicked a bucket or two and the most I ever got was a stubbed toe and a wet floor. Evan Morris gives two possible origins: [http://www.word-detective.com/back-a2.html#bucket](http://www.word-detective.com/back-a2.html#bucket) ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/3 "2005-02-17T20:08:37Z")
Thanks (from the linked article) > [@](#): > > Since the phrase “kick the bucket” dates back to at least the 16th century This dates from the 16th centry!?! Wow! I wonder what the oldest bit of slang that is still in common use. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 8:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/4 "2005-02-17T20:14:09Z")
I hestiate to mention it, because I doubt that it’s a valid derivation, but J. L. Dillard espouses the theory that “kick the bucket” comes from a West African language. As one possibile source, he cites “kekerebu”, which means “dead” in Krio. One caveat: Dillard has a tendency to see a West African orgin in almost every unexplained turn of phrase. He’s probably wrong most of the time, but he may be right occasionally. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 9:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/5 "2005-02-17T21:57:38Z")
Why does “bought the farm” mean the same thing? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 17, 2005, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/6 "2005-02-17T22:30:58Z")
A [later](http://www.word-detective.com/122099.html#kickbucket) column by Morris essentially repeats the Green info, but adds: > [@](#): > > Although “kick the bucket” has been documented as slang for “to die” since 1785, when Captain Francis Grose included it in his “Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue,” no one has been able to prove its origin with absolute certainty. [WordOrigins](http://www.wordorigins.org/wordork.htm#kickbuck) adds: > [@](#): > > The OED2 cites Modern Newspaper (no date given) as saying: > > The beam on which a pig is suspended after he has been slaughtered is called in Norfolk, even in the present day, a bucket. Since he is suspended by his heels, the phrase to kick the bucket came to signify to die. > > The OED2’s earliest cite of the phrase kick the bucket is from Grose’s 1785 edition, although association of the word bucket with death goes back at least as far as 1597 in Shakespeare’s Henry IV, Part II, Act III, Scene ii: > > swifter than he that gibbets on the brewer’s bucket. [Morris](http://www.word-detective.com/back-e.html#farm) says about bought the farm: > [@](#): > > The phrase arose during the Second World War among U.S. combat pilots, many of whom dreamt of surviving the war and buying a small farm on which to retire to a life of peace. When a pilot failed to return from a mission, he was said, with the dark humor common in war zones, to have finally “bought the farm.” We mentioned the equivalent Royal Air Force phrase of the same period a few weeks ago – “gone for a Burton,” referring to brand of ale popular among RAF pilots. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/7 "2005-02-18T02:15:53Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > How did the phrase Kicked the Bucket come to mean that a person died. > > What is the bucket? I’ve actually kicked a bucket or two and the most I ever got was a stubbed toe and a wet floor. Another source says also that it refers to a cask placed under a large steer that was hanged by its rear legs from a beam and then slaughtered, with the blood, entrails, etc., falling into the bucket. As the rope was jerked to maneuver the animal, its front hooves would “kick” the bucket, leading to its meaning death. No date of origination cited. Garrison, Webb, “Why You Say It”, MJF Books, New York, 1992, pp. 163-4. hijack/(Personally, I liked the treatment in the first scenes of “It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World” in which the Jimmy Durante character literally does it. First of hundreds of sight gags in the funniest of all movies.)/hijack ---
**Author:** ![yorick76](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/c67d28/32.png) [@yorick76](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yorick76)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/8 "2005-02-18T03:11:44Z")
I was lookiing up origins of pharases and a while ago and found this site [http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOrigins.htm](http://members.aol.com/MorelandC/HaveOrigins.htm) for kick the bucket it says the following: \*\*Kick the bucket \*\* **Meaning:** To die or stop working. Example: My old car finally kicked the bucket. **Origin:** Pigs to be slaughtered are bled, that is the blood is drained from the body. One way this is accomplished is to hang the pig upside down from a bar (by one foot) that used to be known as a “buchet,” a French word for it. The pig’s throat was cut or opened with a sharp spike (See “bleed like a stuck pig”), and it would rapidly be bled. In its death throes, it would always, always kick the buchet. Thanks to Kensmark Alternatively, Refers to an inverted bucket that a person who is being hung might stand on. When the bucket is kicked out, the person is hung and dies. hope this has been helpful to a number of you. ---
**Author:** ![Zebra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/c0e974/32.png) [@Zebra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zebra)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/9 "2005-02-18T03:15:08Z")
I always thought “bought the farm” refered to the little plot of land that now belong to the dead person. (the grave) ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/10 "2005-02-18T03:31:29Z")
My guess is that the derivations listed by **Ignatz** , **yorick76** , and **Zebra** are all examples of folk etymology. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 5:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/11 "2005-02-18T05:54:00Z")
Heavens! I scrolled down on the Word Detective’s “Kicked the bucket” page, and found the entry for “moreso.” How could this savage discuss “moreso” without quoting _Lydia, The Tattooed Lady?_ What’s this world coming to? You could learn a lot from Lydia. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/12 "2005-02-18T06:43:48Z")
It wouldn’t work for it to mean “going to the store to buy milk and eggs”. It fits “death” better. My humor is as dry as the Kalahari. ---
**Author:** ![Jeff\_Lichtman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jeff_lichtman/32/1531_2.png) [@Jeff\_Lichtman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jeff_Lichtman)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 7:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/13 "2005-02-18T07:03:29Z")
I always assumed “bought the farm” referred to the life insurance of the deceased paying off the mortgage. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/14 "2005-02-18T09:52:42Z")
> [@Zebra](#): > > I wonder what the oldest bit of slang that is still in common use. Well, I’ve often wondered if the expression ‘you’re pulling my leg’ (meaning ‘you’re lying to me’) was related to, or derived from: > [@](#): > > **Genesis 25:** > 24 When the time came for her to give birth, there were twin boys in her womb. > 25 The first to come out was red, and his whole body was like a hairy garment; so they named him Esau > 26 After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping Esau’s heel; so he was named Jacob\*. > > [sub]Genesis 25:25 Esau may mean hairy ; he was also called Edom, which means red. > _Genesis 25:26 Jacob means **he grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives )**_[/sub] ---
**Author:** ![FatBaldGuy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ecd19e/32.png) [@FatBaldGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FatBaldGuy)\ **Post date:** [February 18, 2005, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-does-kicked-the-bucket-mean-death/290589/15 "2005-02-18T14:44:18Z")
Whenever I hear the term “kick the bucket” I can’t help but remember the initial scene in _It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World_. Those who have seen it will know what I mean.