shuffle off this mortal coil
Depart from life
To shuffle off this mortal coil is to die.
The phrase comes from Hamlet's "To be or not to be" soliloquy, where mortal coil refers to the turmoil and troubles of earthly life.
The expression is literary and often used with deliberate theatricality or gentle humor: When I shuffle off this mortal coil, scatter my ashes in the garden.
- feyEerily whimsical, sprite-like
- skull and crossbonesSkeletal danger symbol
- black humorComedy from darkness
- Grim ReaperSkeletal embodiment of mortality
- memento moriArtistic death reminder
kiss of death · put to the sword · danse macabre · demise · expiration · passing · perish · soul · departure · buy the farm · kick the bucket · soliloquy · finality · final curtain · give up the ghost · Hamlet · to be or not to be · go the way of all flesh
shuffle off this mortal coilbe born
Begin living
come into the world · see the light of day · come into being · spring to life · quicken
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