I wish it wasn’t true, but the fact is that “death” has occupied my mind a lot recently. I’m trying my best to deal with things, take a realistic view and try to accept that it’s inevitable and part of ‘life.”
I’ve read a lot about it lately and some sociologists believe that we create a lot of euphemisms for death because we’d rather avoid the subject all together — and — the substitute “labels” help mask our discomfort. According to the theory, people are apparently more comfortable “kicking the bucket” than just dying.
I found two possible origins of “kick the bucket” — as you might expect, both are kind of morbid.
One involves the slaughter of pigs. In the days of yore, a pig was hung by its heels from a wooden beam, after its throat was slit, allowing the blood to drain out. This beam was for some reason, called a “bucket.” Maybe because the pigs were hoisted by means of a pulley system similar to that on an old-fashioned well, but I’m not sure. In the throes of death, the pig’s heels would sometimes knock against the wood. Butchers of the time would often hear the sound of the hog kicking the “bucket.”
Another possibility comes from the act of suicide by hanging. In order to do that, a person must stand on something, secure the noose around their neck and either step down or kick the support away. The theory is that a bucket is something small and easy to stand on. That seems like a more logical explanation to me, except that “kicking the bucket” doesn’t only refer to suicide — it’s used to describe any kind of death.
Either way, death isn’t a pleasant experience, and so the use of euphemisms to describe it may be appropriate or at least easier to talk about — like, buying the farm, pushing up daisies, going into the fertilizer business, taking a dirt nap, etc….
— 30 —