What have we stopped noticing?
The things we say, do, and accept without thinking twice.
“drop dead gorgeous”
Extreme beauty pictured alongside a command to die.
Look closer where it comes from, what it assumes, and the case for keeping it
A way to describe someone or something as exceptionally beautiful or attractive.
The phrase pairs intense admiration with the image of someone dropping dead. Beauty is described as so striking that death becomes the measure of its effect.
Extreme attractiveness can be expressed through a violent image without changing the meaning of the compliment.
The phrase is usually understood as emphatic praise, and the violent image is often barely heard. It is commonly used for people, especially in descriptions of physical attractiveness.
The death image is figurative and familiar, which gives the phrase a punch that simpler praise can lack. For many speakers, the whole expression functions as one established intensifier.