sleep with the fishes
Definition from Wiktionary, the free dictionary
Contents |
English [edit]
Etymology [edit]
- Probably first used in the motion picture The Godfather (1972): "Luca Brasi sleeps with the fishes."[1]
A similar reference can be found in Herman Melville's Moby Dick, wherein the second mate Stubb soliloquizes: "when Aquarius, or the Water-bearer, pours out his whole deluge and drowns us; and to wind up with Pisces, or the Fishes, we sleep. (Melville, Moby Dick, ch. 94).
Verb [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ The original text in Mario Puzo's book The Godfather (1969) read: “The fish means that Luca Brasi is sleeping on the bottom of the ocean,” he said. “It’s an old Sicilian message.”
