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Posted By: belMarduk done for - 09/09/12 01:22 AM
I wrote a note recently in which I said somebody was "done for". In other words, he's reached the end of his line, the jump off point.

Voilą, all euphamisms aside, the gent is dying. But I realize, I said, he's "done for" instead of "he's dying".

Where did that expression come from, do you think?
Posted By: Candy Re: done for - 09/09/12 11:06 AM
I dont know (where it comes from) but I know it well.

'done for' also could mean caught...doing something illegal, like by police.
Posted By: jenny jenny Re: done for - 09/09/12 03:48 PM
In Mississippi we say "done for" when we mean "done for good".
Maybeso the unspoken "good" adds finality as does "done for sure".
And maybeso "done for God" was once a religious phrase used at funerals which later transmuted into "done for good". But "done for good" is semantically illogical so we say "done for" with the "good" serving as an unspoken intensifier of "done".

Or maybe not. smile
Posted By: Tromboniator Re: done for - 09/09/12 10:42 PM
My interpretation of the phrase, with absolutely no authoritative backup, is that it relates to "doing for" someone in the sense of domestic service, as a valet or a lady's maid: "Robert was hired to do for Mr. Halt-Rodney." When one is "done for," all possible service has been rendered, further service is neither necessary nor possible.
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