down below

[englishdrew]

Six feet under

[amigos4]

Six feet under

Hi, englishdrew! Welcome to the forums!

The term 'six feet under' refers to a grave.

The concept of a burial being six feet deep goes back to a time in our history when people were not buried in concrete, metal or fiberglass outer containers and sometimes not even in caskets. This depth was thought deep enough to prevent animals from digging up the grave.
Often a grave will be six feet deep at the bottom. Once the casket and outer burial container are in place, this will usually leave
about three feet of dirt on top.

Cheers,
Amigo

[BobK]

Hi, englishdrew! Welcome to the forums!

The term 'six feet under' refers to a grave.

...

, whereas 'down below' (this thread's title) can refer to either the part of a ship covered by the deck or - euphemistically - at the bottom of the sea [=drowned]:

While the raging seas did roar,
And the stormy winds did blow,
While we jolly sailor-boys were up into the top,
And the land-lubbers lying down below, below, below,
And the land-lubbers lying down below.

See more here: The Child Ballads: 289. Mermaid and scroll down to The Mermaid.

Sometimes a Christian writer may use 'down below'; to refer to Earth. But I can only think of hymns/carols that say 'here below' or 'on Earth below' with that meaning.

b