Davy Jones' Locker, also Davy Jones's Locker, is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the state of death among drowned sailors. It is used as a euphemism for death at sea (to be sent to Davy Jones' Locker).
The origins of the name are unclear and many theories have been put forth, including incompetent sailors, a pub owner who kidnapped sailors, or that Davy Jones is another name for the devil—as in "Devil Jonah." This nautical superstition was popularized in the 19th century.
Read more about Davy Jones' Locker: History, Theories, Reputation
Famous quotes containing the words davy and/or locker:
“The wealth and prosperity of the country are only the comeliness of the body, the fullness of the flesh and fat; but the spirit is independent of them; it requires only muscle, bone and nerve for the true exercise of its functions. We cannot lose our liberty, because we cannot cease to think.”
—Humphry, Sir Davy (1778–1829)
“The coltish horseplay of the locker room,
Moist with steam of the tiled shower stalls,”
—Anthony Hecht (b. 1923)