Don't know how long the saying has been in use, but they did say that aircraft tail gunners were at the greatest danger of death in wartime. Might there be a connection?
mayslass wrote: Anybody here know the answer to this question which is a bit bewildering? Hi "mayslass", I never associated the term with dying but we used the expression with regard to running away from someone or something. It was usually preceded by the word "high", as in "high tailed it". That's not to say the term that someone has died is wrong.
In Leeds the expression "Tailed 'em" was and still is to say that he or she has died. i always thought that it wa linked to "Tail end", as in tail end of the queue but as said earlier the tail gunner in bomber aircraft was the mot dangerous position. sadly i am getting to hear this expression more and more recently.
Jogon wrote: Don't know of that one"Shook a seven" (as in not on the dice) or "kicked the bucket", "fell off perch" most common to my peers. I thought to "shake a seven" or "throw a seven" meant to go to heaven as in heaven /seven rhyming.