Dead Horse (Flogging a dead horse)

The term “flogging a dead horse” alludes to the difficulty of getting any extra work from a crew during a celebration held by British crews when they had been at sea four weeks and had worked off their initial advance (often one month’s pay). At the expiration of the first month of the voyage, it was at one time customary to hoist in the rigging a canvas effigy of a horse.  Today, “dead horse” refers to a debt to the government and/or advance of salary. A nautical term that has now become part of everyday language