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kick the bucket

Posted by Israel Cohen on December 21, 2000

meaning "to die" is probably from a Semitic cognate of
the Hebrew phrase 3agav b'3a:yden which means "make (physical) love in
paradise (Eden)", a euphemism with a particularly Middle Eastern flavor.

The correspondence of the consonants is shown below:
K kg velar aiyin
K g velar gimel
B vb fricative+stop vet + bet (merged)
K kg velar aiyin
T td dental dalet
(dropped) alveolar nun

compare:

cuckold ckwld

Note representation of dental d/t by ancient shin [Latin dens] = tooth.

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