Numbers

To Deep Six

"To Deep Six" means to end something completely.

How It's Used

“The Law of the Sea Treaty, deep-sixed years ago by the Reagan Administration, resurfaced last month when President Bush issued a statement urging its ratification. Let's hope the Senate sends it back to the bottom of the ocean.”

“And to judge from alarmist reports coming from here over a dozen years or so, the Seattle Symphony Orchestra has carried disharmony to new heights, lurching from crisis to crisis. There have been allegations of vandalism aimed at players, including a dented French horn and a razor blade planted in a mailbox; a players’ survey that condemned the conductor only to be deep-sixed by management; and lawsuits filed by players accusing the conductor of mental if not physical abuse.”

"When we started sliding to port, I’d stay with Leopold Bloom for as long as I could tough it out, waiting for the big lumbering ship to arrest its roll and come back to starboard. At times, in rough weather, it seemed as if we’d never make it back, as if we were about to slide down the whole deep six. Then I’d set my book aside and ponder my fortune. An old master-at-arms I once knew had advice for sinking sailors: 'Be grateful you’re not burning.'"

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