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APAD: drop

7grizzly
楼主 (文学城)

Meaning:

Breath-takingly beautiful.

 

Background:

 

It's in print since at least the 1970s and may have been in use as street slang

well before that. A report of a concert given by Sonny and Cher at the Hirsch

Coliseum, printed in the Shreveport Times, October 1972, says:

     "Cher, drop-dead gorgeous in a second skin of silver, pink, purple and red

     sequins."

 

The phrase struck a chord and there are many references to it in newspapers and

journals from very soon after that.

 

It didn't arrive out of the blue. The term "drop dead", meaning excellent had

been around since at least 1962. In The New York Herald-Tribune, January 1962,

we have:

     "Fashions from Florence not drop-dead. For almost the first time in history

     Simonetta failed to deliver an absolutely drop-dead collection."

 

It got picked up as an intensifier for various things, as here from the

Washington Post, July 1980:

     "For drop dead chic food, Harborplace has a sushi and tempura bar."

 

Of course, "drop dead" has also been used as a term demonstrating dislike for

some time. This originated in the US in the 1930s.

 

...

 

- www.phrases.org.uk

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

I don't remember this phrase from GRE and TOEFL but met it at least twice in

"The Black Book," a Chicago crime story, by Patterson and Ellis. I'm sure I've

heard it in the wild and will hear it again if I'm not asleep.

 

Compared with "breath-takingly," the cartoony "drop-dead" seems to say "It's

great but get hold of yourself and stay cool, buddy."

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最西边的岛上
2 楼
just found there's also a film by theName (see below) :-)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drop_Dead_Gorgeous_(film)

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最西边的岛上
3 楼
beauty is admirable, but only skin deep ;-)
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7grizzly
4 楼
Great! Thanks for the movie. It's even in the library!
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7grizzly
5 楼
To me, 'drop-dead' is a comical reminder.
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移花接木
6 楼
沉鱼落雁
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硅谷居士
7 楼
So drop-dead means that a man just faints seeing the woman?
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7grizzly
8 楼
Very close, but did the poor fish and goose die?
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7grizzly
9 楼
Beauty-shocked and star-struck. Yes!
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硅谷居士
10 楼
Thanks for confirming! “坠入爱河”的“坠入”,好像表达的是相似的状态。
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暖冬cool夏
11 楼
Reminds me of “jaw-dropping“,though meaning is different.
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7grizzly
12 楼
That could be the next step. 一见就倾心,再见就钟情,哈哈!
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7grizzly
13 楼
Another nice phrase. Thank you! While we are at it,
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7grizzly
14 楼
"head-turning" should be included in our collection.
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硅谷居士
15 楼
Geese probably died, LOL.
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妖妖灵
16 楼
令人倾倒的美!
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7grizzly
17 楼
And it's a fatal attraction :-)))
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7grizzly
18 楼
倒下就没能再起来 :-)))
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