Davy Jones's locker

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

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

Davy Jones's locker

  1. (nautical, idiomatic) The bottom of the sea, 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."

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Further reading

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