To kick the bucket

Chris:	I want to experience an authentic Halloween in Ireland just once before I kick the bucket.
Emily:	Um, Chris, I think you’re a little young to already have a bucket list. Are you anticipating kicking the bucket any time soon?
Chris:	No, I think I have plenty of time left, thank you very much. But it’s never too early to start really living your life! You never know when the day will come when you finally do kick that bucket.
Emily:	That’s true. But why of all things is a Halloween in Ireland on top of your bucket list?
Chris:	Well, first of all, as you know, I love Halloween. It’s one of my favorite days of the year. I would just like to experience the original celebration with all the ritualistic, cultural and religious significance the day has in Ireland. Are you familiar with the origin of Halloween?
Emily:	Um, well yes. I believe that Halloween is based on an ancient Celtic harvest festival called Samhain that is said to have originated thousands of years ago.
Chris:	Correct. The ancient Celts divided the year into two halves, the light half and the dark half. October 31st was one of the two borders, the New Year’s Eve, so to speak, between the two halves. The evening of October 31st marks the beginning of the dark half when the portal to the supernatural opens and the spirits and fairies and everything that kicked the bucket centuries ago comes for a visit.
Emily:	How fun.
Chris:	Originally, it wasn’t actually meant to be that scary. For the ancient Celts, a connection to the other side was only natural.
Emily:	I see.
Chris:	The Christians renamed the day “All Hallows’ Eve” and it started off a three day period of observance and of remembering the dead, specifically saints and martyrs that kicked the bucket in service to the church.
Emily:	Well then, how did we go from “All Hallows’ Eve” to Halloween?
Chris:	In Scots, the original language spoken in Scotland, “eve” is “even” and was shortened to ee’n, and so it became…
Emily:	…Halloween, got it. Another question: Why do children in the US hollow out pumpkins, put candles inside them, and make a “Jack-’o-lantern?”
Chris:	That is based on an old Irish folktale called Stingy Jack. Plus, the Irish hollow turnips to do this. American children discovered that the native pumpkins are much better for this purpose.
Emily:	Isn’t it also related to the Christian St. Martin traditions in the German-speaking world, where children make lanterns on November 11th, and go singing from door to door where they receive candy?
Chris:	Yes! I believe so. In Ireland and Scotland, there has also been the tradition of “disguising” since the early 19th century, where children go from door to door in supernatural costumes and receive apples or nuts and other food.
Emily:	That morphed into our “trick or treating” in the US in the early 20th century, where kids go from door to door and either receive candy or will play a trick on the inhabitants. In other words, pay up or kick the bucket.
Chris:	Pay up or kick the bucket? Pay up or die? Shesh, that’s a little extreme, Emily. The kids aren’t going to kill someone if they don’t give them candy! But anyway, I have endless childhood memories of trick or treating. I once went as a ghost with a noose around my neck and a bucket under my feet.
Emily:	You went as kicking the bucket? That is almost original.
Chris:	Well, you know, I tried. In Ireland, they also have bonfires, feast on Colcannon the traditional Irish dish and have bobbing apple competitions, and so much more. I really hope I can go someday.
Emily:	Boy, now I really want to go as well… before I kick the bucket.

To kick the bucket

“To kick the bucket” is an English idiom which essentially means “to die”. The phrase is extremely informal. As it refers to death in a slightly disrespectful manner, it should only be used in an informal setting with friends or family, especially if you refer to somebody else’s death instead of your own. It should never be used to refer to a person that has just actually died, as that would be extremely disrespectful.

It is generally true that people have trouble talking about death, and therefore use all manner of euphemisms to deal with the concept. The English language has produced countless synonyms for a demise such as “to pass on, to expire, to succumb, to perish, to fall” etc. There are a couple of synonyms that approach the subject in a less serious, off-hand manner such as “to croak or to drop”. “To kick the bucket” is definitely in the latter category.

The origin of the expression is unclear. It is believed that it refers to a person committing suicide by hanging as those unfortunate people would stand on a bucket with a noose, or a rope with a knot, around their neck. If that person then “kicked the bucket” away, he or she would likely be strangled and die. However, other explanations have been brought forward. Another explanation lies in Catholic ritual. After a person’s death, a bucket would be put at the person’s feet so that family and friends could sprinkle the body with holy water.

Example 1:

I would like to visit Paris before I kick the bucket.

Example 2:

Please be careful with that knife. I do not want to kick the bucket just yet.

Note:

BUCKET LIST: A related expression is the so-called bucket list. A bucket list contains all the things you would like to do before you, well, kick the bucket.