deep six meaning (informal): definition, etymology and quotations

deep six

verb

Etymology First use appears c. 1929 as a noun, most likely from the nautical cry by the deep six indicating a depth of six fathoms (36 feet, 11 metres) as measured by a sounding line (a depth at which something thrown overboard would be difficult to recover), though possibly also a reference to the common depth of graves (six feet). Attested since the 1950s as a verb.

Idiomatic, Informal To discard, get rid of, or cancel; to completely put an end to something.

They had put many hundreds of hours into the project before it was deep-sixed by management.
We wonder why that mild-mannered woman we met at the faculty mixer was on the committee that came close to deep-sixing the career of a liberal professor who did nothing wrong.2021, John H. McWhorter, chapter 2, in Woke Racism, New York: Forum, →ISBN:

Idiomatic, Informal, Uncommon To submerge (something) in water.

deep six

noun

Idiomatic, Informal An ejection, discardment or destruction.

Otherwise when Don got in trouble he might have really got the deep six. He had a pretty level head, though, and I guess that's what saved him.1950, Boys' Life, page 21:
I look at Kenny who looks at Jimmy...the three of us join Colm; we overpower Ingy and give him the deep six.2011, Nine Hundred Nights, Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 132:

2 more examples

Aaron was sitting up in the backseat poking his fingers at his Game Boy, behaving fairly decently since he'd been warned that if he went into any kind of tantrum or mood, the Game Boy got the deep six.2014, Douglas Clegg, The Children's Hour: A Supernatural Thriller, Alkemara Press, →ISBN:
The chief named Ape—pretty good name, too—said, “This guy's bothering you, Pan, Happy'll give him the deep six.” “Oh, no,” the monkey said.2017, Jay Franklin, Richard Wormser, John G. Schneider, The Comic Novel MEGAPACK, Wildside Press LLC, →ISBN, page 153:

Idiomatic, Informal The grave or death; also, the (notional) place where something is discarded.

The discretion of social conversation, even among friends, is exceeded only by the discretion of “the deep six,” that grave wherein nothing is mentioned at all.2004, Tennessee Williams, Cat on a Hot Tin Roof, New Directions Publishing, →ISBN:
Between the Brits and the Maharajas, there's pretty good reason to believe that at least 100,000 tigers got the deep six over the past hundred years.2007, Michael Tougias, When Man is the Prey: True Stories of Animals Attacking Humans, Macmillan, →ISBN, page 150:

2 more examples

Your second appointment is 15 minutes late, so you chip away at your delay reading. You scan contents and tear out articles you want to keep. Wham! The rest goes into the deep six.2008, Michael Dobson, Roy Alexander, Real-World Time Management, AMACOM, →ISBN, page 26:
Down in the deep six with eyes frozen till Judgment Day. There they lie, encased in ice beneath the seas like statues of stone awaiting the Day of Judgment to blast them free.2011, Ralph Ellison, Juneteenth: A Novel, Vintage, →ISBN, page 103:

Related terms: Davy Jones's locker, eighty-six, kick into the long grass, pull the plug, six feet under