{"id":60,"date":"2021-09-23T16:21:12","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:21:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/?p=60"},"modified":"2021-09-23T16:38:58","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T16:38:58","slug":"someone-walked-over-my-grave-meaning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/english-grammar-lessons.com\/someone-walked-over-my-grave-meaning\/","title":{"rendered":"Someone Walked Over My Grave - Meaning and Origin"},"content":{"rendered":"

We\u2019ve all heard it said that someone walked over my grave. We might even have said it ourselves. But what does it mean?\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

What Is the Meaning Behind Someone Walking Over My Grave?<\/h2>\n

When a person says \"someone walked over my grave,\" they mean that they've got sudden, inexplicable shivers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Someone Walked Over My Grave Examples in Sentences<\/h2>\n

The first recorded instance of the idiom \"someone walked over my grave\" appears in a book by Simon Wagstaff. This is the pen name of Johnathan Swift, and he uses the phrase in his book <\/span>A Complete Collection of Genteel and Ingenious Conversation<\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Published in 1738, Wagstaff\u2019s book uses the phrase as follows:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lord, there\u2019s someone walking over my grave.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Again, in 1868, Harriet Parr used the expression in his book <\/span>Basil Godfrey\u2019s Caprice<\/span><\/i><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Parr writes:<\/span><\/p>\n

Joan shuddered -\u00a0 that irrepressible convulsive shudder which old wives say is caused by a footstep walking over the place of our grave that shall be.\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Much later, Harper Lee\u2019s Scout, thinking of her dead brother, says in <\/span>Go Set a Watchman<\/span><\/i>;<\/span><\/p>\n

Someone walked over my grave, [Scout] thought, probably Jem on some idiotic errand.<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n

Origins of Someone Walked Over My Grave\u00a0<\/h2>\n

As the examples indicate, the phrase \"someone walked over my grave\" has a long history. Interestingly, it\u2019s not a uniquely English one, either.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

A Dutch correspondent for Britain\u2019s Notes and Queries records the phrase in a letter that predates Parr by 19 years.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Not only that but \"someone walked over my grave\" has a corresponding French variant, \"<\/span>on marche sur ma tombe.<\/span><\/i>\" This translates to \"someone walked over my grave.\"\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But where does it come from?\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Someone Walked Over My Grave and Death Sentences\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

While there are various explanations for how \"someone walked over my grave\" came to be, the best has to do with prisons.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Before Britain abolished the death penalty, prisoners at <\/span>Newgate Prison<\/span><\/a> walked from their cells to the executioner, <\/span>walking, literally, over their graves.<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s enough to make anyone shiver.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Similar Idioms to Someone Walked Over My Grave<\/h2>\n

While there are various corruptions of the original expression \"someone walked over my grave,\" it\u2019s hard to find synonymous phrases.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The two closest are:<\/span><\/p>\n