Six Feet Under Means Departed

Why did they dig so far down?

six feet under

Interesting Facts in Easy English

Pre-Listening Vocabulary

  • significance: importance
  • plague: a disease that spreads quickly
  • depth: a measurement that expresses how deep something is
  • slang: an informal word or phrase that may be disrespectful
  • respectful: polite, morally acceptable


Six Feet Under Means Departed

When we say that a person is six feet under, this means that he or she is . Some historians believe that this slang expression has significance related to The Great Plague of London in 1665. prevent further outbreak, six feet may have been the minimum depth to bury dead bodies. If you hear that a person has gone to meet his maker, checked out or is pushing up daisies this also means that he is dead. These are slang expressions that are typically used between close friends in informal situations. To be more respectful, you say that a person is gone, , departed, or no longer with us.

Comprehension Questions

  1. How does the expression six feet under differ from the expression no longer with us?
  2. Why does the report mention The Great Plague of London?
  3. What does the term pushing up daisies mean?

Discussion Questions: Are you comfortable talking about death and dying? Why is it difficult to talk about sensitive subjects in a second language?

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