A rum do

Posted by Lewis on October 31, 2005

In Reply to: Down the hatch posted by Leslie on October 30, 2005

: Hi there,

: I'd like to the origin of 'down the hatch', thanks

I think you'll find it is a naval expression. ships have 'hatches' rather than doors. when provisioning or loading a ship, you would put supplies including barrels of liquid (water/rum/ale) 'down the hatch' into the 'hold' (main storage area below decks). a man can imitate this by swigging back a toast.