23

I came across the phrase Drop Dead Gorgeous which means very gorgeous or good-looking.

Why does the above phrase have this meaning? How do the given words relate to the meaning?

Improve this question

4 Answers 4

Reset to default
41

Drop dead works as an intensifier in this phrase. The reference to death isn't literal; it's a hyperbolic expression meant to emphasize how incredibly stunning the speaker finds the person being described.

It's thematically akin to phrases like "I am so [adjective] I could die" (common examples: "hungry," "happy") or "I'm bored to death."

Improve this answer
7
  • 42
    I would say heart-stoppingly and perhaps breathtakingly are more analogous.
    – choster
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 5:15
  • 5
    @choster I agree that they would be appropriate synonyms for "drop dead" in this example, but they reference death more obliquely, and I wanted to emphasize the specific theme of hyperbolic phrases that include death.
    – Katy
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 5:21
  • 8
    It's seems a relevant consideration that "drop dead" is a further exaggeration of "stunning", in that it expresses the effect that this gorgeous person has on people who see them.
    – Flater
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 9:33
  • 1
    I believe it is also connected to the phrase to stop dead in one's tracks. While travelling, something so surprising or stunning causes us to stop immediately. Dropping dead is a further exaggeration of this state of shock or awe. Stop dead is to stop immediately, drop dead makes it fatal.
    – Andy G
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 15:12
  • 2
    See also, knockout and to die for.
    – Will Crawford
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 17:53
47

A first degree paraphrase of:

This person is drop dead gorgeous.

is:

This person is so gorgeous that I could drop dead.

That is, "drop dead" is a description of the reaction of onlookers: they could drop dead due to the shock of seeing such a gorgeous person.

There are other similar expressions in English: shockingly, stunningly, and they are all tied to physical reactions that onlookers could experience (and display).

Imagine a teenage popstar walking down a mall, and the ripples it would create in the crowd:

  • jaws dropping,
  • eyes bugging out,
  • fingers pointing,
  • people stopping to look,
  • fans fainting,
  • ...
Improve this answer
0

I used to think that the phrase 'Drop dead gorgeous' was Victorian in origin, due to the Victorian habit of using mercury and arsenic in their beauty products and thus killing the person using them. But I'm unable to find any reference to this.

Improve this answer
5
  • 18
    That really looks like a typical folk etymology.
    – Vladimir F Героям слава
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 9:38
  • 1
    @VladimirF yes, all my research on this suggests it's 20th century in origin.
    – JGNI
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 9:42
  • The idea of someone being so beautiful even in death is not new. Shakespeare wrote: Death, that hath suck'd the honey of thy breath, Hath had no power yet upon thy beauty; Thou art not conquer'd; beauty's ensign yet Is crimson in thy lips, and in thy cheeks, And death's pale flag is not advanced there. (Romeo & Juliet, Act V, scene 3, line 92.)
    – Rick Ryker
    Commented Feb 7, 2019 at 17:37
  • 1
    This is entirely and wholly incorrect.
    – Fattie
    Commented Feb 8, 2019 at 12:37
  • There is a mention of this in Terry Pratchett's "Making Money"
    – Hakanai
    Commented Jan 20 at 23:39
0

Compare "Heart-stoppingly beautiful", with the same meaning and the same metaphor of killing the viewer. With heart-stopping it's clearly referring to excitement/rising blood pressure.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .