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JadziaDax · 06-24-2003, 01:24 AM

The Word of the Day for June 24 is:

deep-six • \DEEP-SIKS\ • (verb) 1. slang: to get rid of; discard, eliminate; 2. slang: to throw overboard

A little more information about today’s word:
Before the introduction of shipboard sonar, water depth was measured by hand with a sounding line. This was generally a rope weighted at one end, with bits of leather called "marks" tied on at intervals to measure the fathoms. Between the marks, fathoms were estimated by "deeps." The "leadsman" (pronounced \LEDS-muhn\) lowered the line into the water and called out the depth as the rope passed through his hands: "By the mark twain!" at two fathoms; "By the deep six!" at six fathoms. Perhaps due to an association with "six feet under" (dead and buried), to give something the "deep six" (or to "deep-six" it) was to throw it overboard, or, by extension, to discard it. In the mid-1960s "deep-six" made landfall; since then it has been used as much by landlubbers as by old salts.

My sentence (using definition #1):
"[She] came out number one on written exams for the jail job, but was deep-sixed by the jail’s psychological tester because, he said, she was 'too nice' to be a jailer."
-- Saturday Review, April 15, 1978

Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition.

Next sentence?

06-24-2003, 01:24 AM	#159 (permalink)
JadziaDax Loser Location: who the fuck cares?	Word of the day June 24 The Word of the Day for June 24 is: deep-six • \DEEP-SIKS\ • (verb) 1. slang: to get rid of; discard, eliminate; 2. slang: to throw overboard A little more information about today’s word: Before the introduction of shipboard sonar, water depth was measured by hand with a sounding line. This was generally a rope weighted at one end, with bits of leather called "marks" tied on at intervals to measure the fathoms. Between the marks, fathoms were estimated by "deeps." The "leadsman" (pronounced \LEDS-muhn\) lowered the line into the water and called out the depth as the rope passed through his hands: "By the mark twain!" at two fathoms; "By the deep six!" at six fathoms. Perhaps due to an association with "six feet under" (dead and buried), to give something the "deep six" (or to "deep-six" it) was to throw it overboard, or, by extension, to discard it. In the mid-1960s "deep-six" made landfall; since then it has been used as much by landlubbers as by old salts. My sentence (using definition #1): "[She] came out number one on written exams for the jail job, but was deep-sixed by the jail’s psychological tester because, he said, she was 'too nice' to be a jailer." -- Saturday Review, April 15, 1978 Based on Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary, 10th Edition. Next sentence?