Meaning:
A list of things one hopes to do before one dies.
Origin and Etymology:
If the phrase " kick the bucket " has its origins in the late 18th century, “bucket list” is much more recent.
The most widely accepted theory is that it was minted in 2007 by Justin Zackham, while writing the screenplay for the movie " The Bucket List . Our researcher’s curiosity drove us to dig a bit more. As soon as we scratched the surface, we discovered that this idiom already existed before 2007 (see search results on Google and precisely at least since the 60s (Google Ngram). Based on this, our educated guess is that the idiom already existed before 2007 and the movie made it popular. This is precisely what we love about languages: they evolve.
PS: This is something I would definitely put in my personal bucket list. What's on your bucket list?
The Serious Writer's Companion
