[Idiom] Kick the bucket

[Venus.jam]

Hi


In what contexts can we use "kick the bucket" idiom? Is it ONLY used in humorous way? Or can
we use it when we are talking about the death of a person from whom we hated and had some kind of problems with?
Would you please give some examples?

 

[Venus.jam]

Re: Kik the bucket

'Kick the bucket' is informal. We can use it of anybody, though if the person we use it of is respected/revered/loved, we may cause offence.

Would you please provide an example where "kick the bucket" is used in a humorous way?

I wonder what idiom can be used in the case that we want to express our negative feeling and hatered toward the dead person. Can we use "bite the dust"?
I wonder in which idiom a negative feeling and more offence is implied.

Regards,

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: Kik the bucket

Would you please provide an example where "kick the bucket" is used in a humorous way?

I will have to kick the bucket if I fail the exam.

 

[Raymott]

Re: Kik the bucket

I will have to kick the bucket if I fail the exam.

Not so appropriate. That seems to imply suicide, which "kick the bucket" doesn't mean.

 

[Raymott]

Re: Kik the bucket

I wonder in which idiom a negative feeling and more offence is implied.

You could use adverbs and other secondary words/phrases.
"We spent last night celebrating his kicking the bucket."
"Fortunately, he kicked the bucket before we were due to meet him."

 

[Matthew Wai]

Re: Kik the bucket

That seems to imply suicide, which "kick the bucket" doesn't mean.

I found the following speculation on this page.

'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 this is mainly speculative.'

 

[Raymott]

Re: Kik the bucket

I think that's historical. It might be true etymologically, but that's not what the phrase means these days.

 

[GoesStation]

Re: Kik the bucket

Jimmy Durante died dramatically in the farce It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World​.

 

[Skrej]

Re: Kik the bucket

Would you please provide an example where "kick the bucket" is used in a humorous way?

I wonder what idiom can be used in the case that we want to express our negative feeling and hatred toward the dead person. Can we use "bite the dust"?
I wonder in which idiom a negative feeling and more offense is implied.

Regards,

I can't think of any which are specifically negative and only offensive. They could all be taken as offensive in the right situation, as previously mentioned. To make them deliberately offensive, you'd have to modify or contextualize them. Your intonation would go a long way towards implying your negativity.

The closest negative death idiom I can think of is 'croaked', but even that's wouldn't necessarily be viewed as only negative.

 

[Skrej]

Re: Kik the bucket

I found the following speculation on this page.

'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 this is mainly speculative.'

As others have said, it doesn't work for suicide nowadays. I similarly wouldn't use it to talk about the death of a murder victim, or accident victim. Personally, I mostly just associate it with death from natural causes, illnesses, etc.

Others might use it differently in those cases, but there seems to be consensus that it doesn't work for describing suicides.