Have you heard the expression 'shufle off this mortal coil' and would like to know more about the meaning, context, or potential origin of the saying? The phrase 'shuffle off this mortal coil' is a saying taken from Shakespeare's Hamlet. This phrase unpacks the term and how to use it.
Meaning
The phrase 'shuffle off this mortal coil' is a common figurative saying in the English language.
'Shuffle off this mortal coil' is a phrase that is used to refer to (or imply) someone's death, or as an exclamation of how dramatic someone's point of view is seen as.
'To shuffle off this mortal coil' means to die, but it can also be used to mean that someone is so embarrassed that they might want to die, or imply that they are so dramatic that they might feign from it.
Whlie the original reference is to suicide in Shakespeare, the phrase does not always reference suicide but can also be either a dramatic or serious reference to someone's death.
There are several ways to use the phrase, depending on the tense that is being used.
Someone can 'have shuffled off this mortal coil' in the past tense, or 'shuffle off this mortal coil' in the present. The phrase can also be used for the future tense, and remains '[going to] shuffle off this mortal coil.'
The phrase is more often dramatic than it is serious.
'Shuffle off this mortal coil' is almost never used as a negative form of the saying.
Example Usage
“If you guys don't mind, I'm feeling so tired right now that I could go straight to bed and shuffle off this mortal coil.”
“Look, if you want to shuffle off this mortal coil you could just walk in front of a bus or go to the rough part of town after midnight.”
“If you're going to go down to the woods tonight, you're in for a big surprise. If you run into Slenderman or any bears, then you might just shuffle off your mortal coil.”
“If you play with electricity like that, you're going to shuffle off this mortal coil any second.”
Origin
According to most online language resources, the phrase 'shuffle off this mortal coil' is a saying that comes from one of the most popular plays of all time: Shakespeare's Hamlet.
The expression is said as a reference to suicide in the play that was first published around the early 1600s. After its use in the play, the phrase would become popular from the 1800s as a common phrase used to refer to a dramatic death.
Use of the phrase would continue well after this time, and the phrase carries the same implications as it did when it first appeared.
Sometimes the phrase is used as a dramatization instead of a true reference to death.
Other than its original use in the play Hamlet, the phrase has also become a cultural reference that appears in movies, film and video games.
The website Urban Dictionary first lists the phrase from 2007, even though earlier use of the saying is apparent.
Phrases Similar to Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil
- To your own death
Phrases Opposite to Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil
- N/a
What is the Correct Saying?
- N/a
Ways People May Say Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil Incorrectly
There are several ways in which the phrase 'shuffle off this mortal coil' can be misunderstood, including to take the meaning of the phrase as literal when it is meant as figurative – or the other way around.
While the phrase is often dramatic and figurative, it can also sometimes be used as a literal phrase. The context is usually made apparent from what is being said.
Acceptable Ways to Phrase Shuffle Off This Mortal Coil
There are several ways in which someone can use the phrase '[to] shuffle off this mortal coil' in the correct way.