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Reader question: Please explain “rock bottom” in this passage (Rockets seek recommitment to defensive ideals, Houston Chronicle, January 16, 2010): “Hopefully, we can use (Friday’s loss) as rock bottom,” forward Luis Scola said. “I don't know if it was that bad, but we can use it as rock bottom to bounce back and get back where we were like 20 games ago.” My comments: Rock bottom means the lowest point possible. Here Scola, a member of the Houston Rockets basketball team, sees the team’s performance in its latest loss as the worst and expects it to improve. “Rock bottom” is an American idiom dating back to 1865–70 (Random House Dictionary) and it, referring to the layer of hard rock at the bottom of a well or something, probably came from oil inspecting. If you dig for water and hit rock bottom, it means you’ve hit the bedrock and cannot go down any further. Hence metaphorically speaking, if something hits rock bottom, it reaches the lowest level. This phrase if often used today in the phrase “rock bottom price”, meaning the lowest price of a commodity. I saw a sign the other day at a little shop around the corner of the street by which I live reading – “Rock bottom prices, lowest in the city.” There’s also a loudspeaker blaring out pre-recorded messages, such as: “tearful clearance”, “shop relocating”, “dirt cheap giveaway”. | 
