put down to sleep

A word or phrase people think of to avoid the truth, that "putting someone/thing down to sleep" is simply killing.

"Put down to sleep" is almost always used in the meaning of giving a pet animal a shot which will kill them, in order to put it out of its misery of a fatal sickness.

See also: abortion, silence

I guess we have to ki-- *cough* I mean, put our dog down to sleep, cuz it has SARS.

by Matt May 09, 2003