1574-1637. Ben Jonson, Epistle to Elizabeth, Countess of Rutland. Whilst that for which all virtue now is sold, And almost every vice, almightie gold.
1839. Washington Irving, Wolfert's Roost: A Creole Village, p. 40. The almighty dollar, that great object of universal devotion throughout our land, seems to have no genuine devotee in these peculiar villages.
1876. Besant and Rice, Golden Butterfly, ch. xxii. 'Genius, gentlemen, is apt to be careless of the main chance. It don't care for the almighty dollar; it lets fellows like me heap up the stamps.'
1886. G. Sutherland, Australia, p. 102. The travelling Yankee, with an overwearing confidence in the almighty dollar.
Aloft. To go aloft, verb. phr. (common).--To die; the figure of speech presented here is nautical in origin.
1790. C. Dibdin, Sea Songs: Tom Bowling. Here a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowling, The darling of our crew; No more he'll hear the tempest howling, For death has broached him to. His form was of the manliest beauty, His heart was kind and soft; Faithful below, Tom did his duty, And now he's gone aloft.
Few expressions synonymous with the act of dying equal this in force or pathos; and it is rarely, moreover, that slang climbs on the wings of hope into a purer atmosphere than that of the vices and follies of men with which it is mainly concerned. By no means few in number, nor wanting in sententiousness and dramatic meaning are the phrases employed in the vulgar tongue to signify the greatest of all human experiences.
English Synonyms. To kick the bucket; to hop the twig; to go to Davy Jones' locker (nautical); to be put to bed with a shovel; to take an earth bath; to croak; to take a ground sweat; to go under (American: the visible disposal of the body furnishing a simile for the process of death); to go up (compare with foregoing: when the victim of lynch law is enquired after the questioner is told that he has 'gone up,' i.e., been hanged); to lose the number of one's mess (a sailor's phrase); to snuff it (from snuffing a candle); to lay down one's knife and fork; to stick one's spoon in the wall; to give in; to give up; to peg out; to slip one's cable (this, like 'to go to Davy Jones' locker,' is of nautical origin); to pass in one's checks (a euphemism drawn from the game of poker, the simile being that of settling one's earthly accounts and the paying in to the banker of the dues at the end of the game); Kickeraboo (West Indian: a corruption of 'to kick the bucket').
French. Passer l'arme à gauche (popular: 'to lay down one's arms'); casser sa pipe (lit. 'to break one's pipe'); dévisser or décoller son billard (lit. 'to break one's cue'); graisser ses bottes (lit. 'to grease one's boots'); avaler sa langue (lit. 'to swallow one's tongue'); avaler sa gaffe ('to lower one's boat-hook'); avaler sa cuiller (lit. 'to lay down one's spoon'); avaler ses baguettes (military: lit. 'to lay aside one's drum-sticks'); n'avoir plus mal aux dents (lit. 'to have toothache no more.' In Fr. Argot mal de dents is also synonymous with love); poser sa chique (popular: lit. 'to lay down one's finish, elegance, dash, spirit'--in short all that is distinctive in a man); claquer (familiar: lit. 'to chatter
