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Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891
Carpal Tunnel
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OP
Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Sep 2000
Posts: 2,891 |
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.
Voilà, 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?
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Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,706
Pooh-Bah
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Pooh-Bah
Joined: Sep 2010
Posts: 1,706 |
I dont know (where it comes from) but I know it well.
'done for' also could mean caught...doing something illegal, like by police.
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Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554
veteran
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veteran
Joined: Jun 2010
Posts: 1,554 |
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. 
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Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963
old hand
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old hand
Joined: May 2010
Posts: 963 |
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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