down the banks

Origin: . Probably of Irish origin. * Notes & Queries, 3rd series, volume 1 (8 March 1862), page 189 [http://books.google.com/books?id=DUwAAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22down%20the%20banks%22&lr=&as_drrb_is=q&as_minm_is=0&as_miny_is=&as_maxm_is=0&as_maxy_is=&num=100&as_brr=0&pg=PA189#v=onepage&q=%22down%20the%20banks%22&f=false posits a connection] with "down the khud", supposedly used of a person falling down a precipice in the Himalayas. * ''Cassell's Dictionary of Slang (1998) suggests falling off the raised bank of a bog into muddy water. * Bernard Share (Slanguage, 1997) suggests a link to "The Banks of my ow. Origin information sourced from Wiktionary contributors (CC BY-SA 4.0).