[Lexicog] Invariant Phases vs. " Kicked the proverbial bucket"

[Amsler, Robert]

I've encountered several papers all claiming that "kick the bucket" is
invariant (apart from tense inflections as "kicked the bucket"). What
bothers me is that "kicked the proverbial bucket" is a fairly popular
expression (276 web hits) and I'm found other web examples as well that
mean "to die". It would seem that "kicked the bucket" is not as "frozen"
as theorists want it to be...?   

Some web examples...

"A Feast Fit for a King, a March 31 benefit for the center, featuring
the King Midas Banquet (named for the fabled king whose golden touch led
him to starve to death), will attempt to re-create a sumptuous
2,700-year-old funerary feast believed to have been in honor of the
legendary Midas when he finally kicked the golden bucket."
 
========================

"... 3,000 years later and they still can't figure out why Tutankhamun
kicked the wooden bucket at the ripe old age of 19...
 
========================
"kick the bucket" - 136,000 web hits
"kicked the bucket" - 104,000 web hits
"kicked the ol' bucket" - 60 web hits (meaning to die)
"kicked the old bucket" - 17 web hits (meaning to die)












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