deep-six To destroy, discard, or hide embarrassing or incriminating material; to reject or shelve an unwanted proposal or project; to get rid of anything undesirable. Originally an informal U.S. Navy expression for burial at sea, deep-six referred to the regulation that the water at the burial site had to be at least 600 feet (100 fathoms) deep. Eventually, deep-six referred to throwing anything overboard. Also, since many states require that the dead be buried at least six feet underground, deep-six sometimes referred to any burial. Thus, deep-six usually means to put a rejected object, scheme, matter, etc., in a place where it will receive little, if any, further notice and will be, figuratively, if not literally, buried. Since the Watergate scandal and trial (1971-75), however, deep-six often implies a political cover-up, that which is deep-sixed being not merely undesirable, but politically sensitive and potentially dangerous as well.

file 13 A wastebasket; a figurative place where something will receive no further consideration. This expression enjoyed limited popularity during World War II. It has, for the most part, been replaced in contemporary usage by circular file. The use of “13” probably stems from the negative qualities associated with that number by superstitious people, and its consequent omission in number sequences denoting floors, rooms, restaurant tables, etc. Thus, to put something in file 13 is to put it in a nonexistent place.