Feet First Meaning

(idiomatic, euphemistic) In the manner of a deceased person (i.e., dead).

Example: 1910, Jack London, Burning Daylight, ch. 4:
  "If that door opens and any one of you cusses lets on there's anything unusual, right here and then I sure start plugging. They ain't a soul'll get out the room except feet first."
1943 Oct. 18, "How to Be a Racketeer," Time:
  "‘Anybody resigns from us resigns feet first, understand?’ he tells me. So I didn't resign."
2001 May 23, Robin Finn, "Public Lives," New York Times (retrieved 9 Sep 2009):
  "They'll probably have to take me out of here feet first," says Ms. Steinem, punctuating the prediction with a growl of laughter (mortality has been in the back of her mind since breast cancer treatment a dozen years ago. . .).