mortal coil

Etymology
Alluding to. The two senses result from two interpretations of the word, one taking it to mean “tumult, confusion, fuss”, the other “case, wrapping”. In either case, the phrase “shuffle off this mortal coil” must mean “die”. Since "shuffle off" is generally taken to mean "get rid of" or "evade" it is likely that in the sense that Shakespeare used it, it was specifically referring to the act of suicide.

Noun

 * 1) The chaos and confusion of life.
 * 2) The physical body of man (containing the spirit inside).
 * 3) * 1871, “T. A.”, “Polyxenes”, in J. E. Taylor et al. (editors), Hardwicke’s Science-Gossip for 1872, Robert Hardwicke (1873), page 32:
 * &#x5B;A black swallowtail&#x5D; does not—as a true insect does—change from worm to grub, and from grub to his mature form, but simply “shuffles off his mortal coil,”—skin, hairs, and leggings all complete, now and then, . He then leaves his shuffled-off “mortal coil” hanging upon a fragment of dirty cobweb, as before described.