Dicing with Death

[Carlos26]

Hi, first question posted for me, hope I do well.  Anyone know the oigins of the mentioned phrase? Is it, as I'm assuming, from The Rime of the Ancient Mariner by Coleridge?

[Quizmonster]

There is, indeed, a scene in Coleridge's poem in which Death and Life-in-Death play dice with Life-in-Death winning control of the ancient mariner. However, the actual phrase, 'dicing with death' itself is much more recent, dating back only to the 1940s, when it was commonly used in motor-racing circles to describe reckless driving.