nail in one's coffin

nail in one's coffin

1. (slang) An alcoholic drink.
   • 1859, Henry Mudge, Physiology, Health and Disease, Demanding Abstinence from Alcoholic Drinks, and Prohibition of Their Common Sale, page 38:

     A man whom I knew frequented a certain public-house, the landlady of which, on handing him his pint of beer, would oftimes accompany it with the remark, "Here, J—, is another nail in your coffin."

   • 1875, Overland Monthly and Out West Magazine, volume 15, page 383:

     "Hullo! Just in time — just had drinks all round. Come, put another nail in your coffin!"

2. Synonym of another nail in someone's coffin (“event leading to further failure”)

• John Camden Hotten (1873) The Slang Dictionary