Talk Like a Pirate, But Avoid Davy Jones

In honor of Talk Like a Pirate Day, (Every September 19) In Repose considers the phrase "Davy Jones' Locker", which refers to the death of sailors or the deadly sinking of ships.

Most American Sailors would rather not talk about Davy Jones and his infamous locker. They readily refer to him and his dwelling place on the bottom of the sea, but they don't much like to discuss any details. They are content enough to keep him a vague, indefinite presence that will keep to his place undisturbed until needed.

If you ask a sailor what he looks like or what his locker is made from, they will say there is no official description of Davy and perhaps his locker is something like an ordinary sea chest or coffin, always open to catch any sailor unfortunate enough to find himself in the sea.

From  Navy Historical Facts and Trivia:

Some English sailors incline to the belief that his name is a corruption of Duffer Jones, a clumsy fellow who frequently found himself overboard. The only time Davy comes to life is in the ceremony of crossing the line. Then he is usually impersonated by the smallest sailor on board, given a hump, horns and a tail, and his features made as ugly as possible. He is swinish, dressed in rags and seaweed, and shambles along in the wake of the sea king, Neptune, playing evil tricks upon his fellow sailors. Old sailors, rather than speak of the devil, called him Deva, Davy or Taffy, the thief of the evil spirit; and Jones is from Jonah, whose locker was the whale's belly. Jonah was often called Jonas, and as Davy Jones, the enemy of all living sailors, he has become the mariners' evil angel. To be cast into the sea and sink is to fall into his locker and have the lid popped down on one. It is generally agreed that the Christian sailor's body goes to Davy Jones's locker, but his soul, if he is a proper sailorman, goes to Fiddlers' Green.