Ever Wonder Where the Term Davy Jones’s Locker Comes From? Seabourn Has a Few Ideas.
Tuesday, February 10th, 2009Davy Jones’s locker is an idiom for the bottom of the sea: the resting place of drowned sailors. It is used as a euphemism for death at sea, i.e. to “be sent to Davy Jones’s Locker” whereas the name Davy Jones is a nickname for what would be the Devil/Saint/God of the seas. 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 1800s.
So where did the legend actually come from? Many explanations have been proposed as to the mysterious origins, including the ones below…. (more…)
