GO BURY YOURSELF! phr. (American).—A Californianism—go to hell!
TO BURY (or BIG UP) THE HATCHET, verb. phr. (American).—Amongst Indian tribes certain symbolic ceremonies are connected with the war-hatchet or tomahawk, which are equivalent to a declaration of war, or a compact of peace. TO BURY THE HATCHET is the emblem of the putting away of strife and enmity; on the other hand, the red skin, before he commences hostilities, digs up afresh the fateful symbol.
[1609. SHAKESPEARE, Tempest, v. 1. 53. I’le breake MY STAFFE, BURY it certaine fadomes in the earth.]
1855–59. IRVING, Life of Washington, I., 361. They smoked the pipe of peace together, and the colonel claimed the credit of having, by his diplomacy, persuaded the sachem to BURY THE HATCHET.
1855. LONGFELLOW, Hiawatha, 13.
| BURIED was THE bloody HATCHET, | |
| Buried was the dreadful war-club, | |
| Buried were all warlike weapons, | |
| And the war-cry was forgotten. | |
| There was peace among the nations. |
1873. CARLETON, Farm Ballads.
| And I told her we’d BURY THE HATCHET alongside of the cow; | |
| And we struck an agreement never to have another row. |
TO BURY A MOLL, verb. phr. (common).—To desert or forsake a wife or mistress.
TO BURY A QUAKER, phr. (Irish slang).—To evacuate: to REAR (q.v.): see MRS. JONES.
1900. Brooklyn Citizen, 29 Sept., 9/1. It [the street] is in an extremely bad condition. Why, there are ruts in front of Dr. Rooney’s door large enough to bury a Quaker.
TO BURY A WIFE, verb. phr. (old).—To feast and make merry: spec. used of the jollifications frequently indulged in by apprentices on the completion of their term of indenture, and become ‘full blown’ craftsmen.
1847. HALLIWELL, A Dictionary of Archaic and Provincial Words, etc., s.v. OUTING. A feast given to his friends by an apprentice, at the end of his apprenticeship: when he is out of his time. In some parts of the kingdom, this ceremony is termed by an apprentice and his friends ‘BURYING HIS WIFE.’
