I will be pushing up the daisies!

I’ll be pushing up the daisies by the time he gives me a raise.

Pushing Up The Daisies (Photo credit: sharkbait)

That is what one of my friends told me this week. She was complaining about her working situation. She has been asking for a raise (i.e.increase in salary) for the past year but her boss refuses to give her one.  She feels she deserves it because she has done an outstanding job on a long standing project. He agrees but insists on respecting the salary freeze that has been in effect for the longest time.

Meaning

She used the expression ‘Pushing up the daisies’. It is a very descriptive idiom that means when I am dead & buried.(i.e.placed under the ground) In other words, It will never happen. It is usually conjugated in the future continuous. It is a euphemism that is used to avoid saying something unpleasant.

Origin

It comes from the  position of a daisy before it is picked. Like most flowers, a daisy grows in the ground. When we die, we normally go underground if we have a burial.(i.e.the act of buying) This means we will be able to push up the daisies.

Use

We use it when someone passes away. We use it when a situation is not moving and we don’t think it will ever change. We use it when we have been waiting a long time for something to happen.

In Context

• I will be pushing up the daisies by the time this issue is solved.
• Poor John is pushing up the daisies.
• We will be pushing up the daisies before the economy picks up.

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Lem..xo!