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To kick the bucket is an English idiom that is defined as 'to die'. It is considered euphemistic or informal. It is used as a verb. Its origin is still unclear, although there have been two theories.
One theory is that it comes from a method of suicide in the middle ages. [1] A noose is tied around one's neck while standing in a bucket. When the pail is kicked, the person would be hanged.
Another possible theory states that the 'bucket' refers the the beam on which slaughtered pigs are suspended. The word 'bucket' may refer to such a beam in the Norfolk dialect. [2]
A third theory following: [3]
After death, when a body had been laid out, ... and ... the holy-water bucket was brought from the church and put at the feet of the corpse. When friend 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
— The Right Reverend Abbot Horne, Relics of Popery
In North America, a variation of the idiom is kick off, with the same meaning. [4] A related phrase is to hand in the dinner pail. A 'dinner pail' is a bucket that contains a worker's dinner. [2]
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