kick the bucket
动词 v.
英 /ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/
美 /ˈkɪk ðə ˈbʌkɪt/
英文释义
动词 v.
-
To die.
— The old horse finally kicked the bucket.
-
To break down such that it cannot be repaired.
— I think my sewing machine has kicked the bucket.
词汇关系
相关词
词源
There are many theories as to where this idiom comes from, but the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) suggests the following:
* A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, however, says that this is mainly speculative;
* An archaic use of bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig's death throes. The OED finds this a more plausible theory.
Another theory is given by Roman Catholic Bishop Abbot Horne:
After death, when a body had been laid out, […] the holy-water bucket was brought from the church and put at the feet of the corpse. When friends came to pray […] they would sprinkle the body with holy water […] it is easy to see how such a saying as "kicking the bucket" came about. Many other explanations of this saying have been given by persons who are unacquainted with Catholic custom […]
* A person standing on a pail or bucket with their head in a slip noose would kick the bucket so as to commit suicide. The OED, however, says that this is mainly speculative;
* An archaic use of bucket was a beam from which a pig is hung by its feet prior to being slaughtered, and to kick the bucket originally signified the pig's death throes. The OED finds this a more plausible theory.
Another theory is given by Roman Catholic Bishop Abbot Horne:
After death, when a body had been laid out, […] the holy-water bucket was brought from the church and put at the feet of the corpse. When friends came to pray […] they would sprinkle the body with holy water […] it is easy to see how such a saying as "kicking the bucket" came about. Many other explanations of this saying have been given by persons who are unacquainted with Catholic custom […]
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数据来源: Wiktionary