six feet under

Idioms  

1. Dead and buried, as in No, you can't read my diary—not until I'm six feet under. Although this expression alludes to what has long been the traditional depth of a grave, that is, approximately the same as the length of the coffin, it dates only from the mid-1900s.

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Example Sentences

Had May not gone to the hospital, “I would have been six feet under that night,” he said.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2025

Here in the U.S., fewer and fewer of us are choosing to spend our afterlife six feet under.

From Salon • Oct. 22, 2023

When he’s six feet under, I highly doubt your sons will fondly remember him by saying, “Our dad had the nicest Mercedes SUV. Man, that thing was beautiful. He always drove around in style.”

From Slate • Feb. 2, 2021

Michigan took Notre Dame's season and buried it six feet under.

From Golf Digest • Oct. 28, 2019

He tells me he doesn’t trust doctors, that my grandfather did and look where it got him: six feet under at forty-five.

From "The Crossover" by Kwame Alexander