I'm Really Worried I Have Upset My...
Family & Relationships3 mins ago
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For more on marking an answer as the "Best Answer", please visit our FAQ.A battleship is, of course, very large, so sinking it would require an extremely large amount of water or other weight. This is why we use the phrase "enough to sink a battleship" to describe the amount consumed when someone has eaten or drunk vast quantities of food or alcohol, for example.
As to the origin, the word 'battleship' itself dates back to the late 18th century, so it might have appeared at any time since then, as it has become almost a proverb nowadays.