Davy Jones's locker

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English

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English Wikipedia has an article on:
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Alternative forms

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Etymology

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There has been much speculation about the origin of this term, but none has been substantiated. See more at Davy Jones' Locker on Wikipedia.

Pronunciation

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Proper noun

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Davy Jones's locker

  1. (nautical, idiomatic) The bottom of the ocean, seen as a grave for sailors and the resting-place of anything that goes overboard and is lost.
    • 1774, Nicholas Cresswell, The Journal of Nicholas Cresswell, 1774-7:
      "Damn my eyes," says he, "they are gone to Davy Jones's locker."
      NOTE: Partridge erroneously refers to this as from the journal of Richard rather than Nicholas Cresswell.
    • 1781 August, Isaac Kimber, Edward Kimber, “The Summer Theatre”, in The London Magazine, or, Gentleman's Monthly Intelligencer, volume 50, page 360:
      ... are discovered singing a melancholy duet, bewailing the loss of an honest tar, whom they suppose (to use the burthen of the song) "is in Davy Jones's locker."

Translations

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See also

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