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Some expressions of dismissal or insult such as "go jump in a lake" or "take a long walk off a short pier" direct the recipient to fall into a body of water.

Is the figurative idea in such expressions that the person should remove themselves from the scene in a way that is merely picturesque and uncomfortable, or dangerous and potentially fatal? In the first interpretation the meaning is something like get out of here now, or be silent and stop annoying me, and in the second more like I hate you.

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  • Since all it takes to get immersed in water is to walk the length of a short pier plus one step, I'd say that the implication of "take a long walk off a short pier" is to walk off the pier and then keep walking once you touch down on the lake/river/bay/sea bottom. The intention is not so bloody-minded, but literally it describes the same walk that a poet (Lowell or Berryman, I think) describes in a poem about crossing a dewy lawn in early morning at a friend's house on the coast of Maine or Massachusetts and walking to the cliff's edge and down and on across the bay to a distant island.
    – Sven Yargs
    Commented Aug 15, 2016 at 22:44
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    Aren't these just euphemisms for "go to hell"?
    – deadrat
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 1:36
  • Whether it's always a euphemism for something like "go to hell", or can also mean something like "burn in hell", is the question. FOAD vs FO, ESAD vs ES are similar examples but in all these the strong and weak forms are worded differently so there is less ambiguity. @deadrat
    – zyx
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 3:13
  • At least in my mind there is a difference between "go jump in the lake" in your title and "go jump in a lake". I would interpret the latter as "go to hell", while the first could very well be referring to actually jumping in the specific lake. Context would dictate the maliciousness or joy of the action.
    – Helmar
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 9:20
  • I posted both forms under the assumption that "the lake" and "a lake" could both be used in this expression, with the choice being a matter of regional or personal preference. Google search engine, books and Ngrams all have about 3 times as many hits for the form using "the lake". books.google.com/ngrams/… . @Helmar
    – zyx
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 11:55

3 Answers 3

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No, they are not used in a way that would suggest harm to the person to whom it is said. They hint at a frustration or impatience by the speaker that the person is deemed to have caused.

With regard to water, it would have more in common with telling someone to 'take a cold shower', to sober up (their thoughts). It's usually said to a person in response to something they have said, so harm or physical harm would be pretty innappropriate. The real message, is "get lost", "go away", and maybe also, gain a little humility by getting a little wet.

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  • Take a cold shower is common advice to men to combat unrequitable sexual arousal.
    – deadrat
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 1:35
  • @deadrat, that is true. Along with other euphemisms that can be interpreted further to be related to sex (double entendre), this one has a non-sexual connotation as well.
    – John
    Commented Aug 16, 2016 at 14:55
  • “Go soak your head!”
    – Anton Sherwood
    Commented May 23, 2021 at 2:55
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They are facetious remarks that would be said in annoyance. The person saying them doesn't literally want the other person to go and die.

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    "Literally want" is too strong. The question was about a facetious rather than literal notion of "go and die" paraphasable as "I hate you" (or something like that). Conversational invitations to do something deadly are usually not intended literally but there is a gradation of intensity as to what is meant, even figuratively.
    – zyx
    Commented Aug 15, 2016 at 22:30
  • Well, I suppose I should've said that the person doesn't literally want the other person to figuratively go kill themselves.
    – cliff900
    Commented Aug 15, 2016 at 23:16
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It's a reference to the Lake of Fire in the book of Revelation.

As Death and Hell are both to be thrown in the lake of fire, saying "Go jump in the lake" is urging somebody to not bother with Hell, but to go straight to the Lake of Fire.

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