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Drop dead!

Hello. I'm just wondering about if 'drop dead!' is still used in American English.

I'm talking about its meaning: "Screw you!" or "F- you!"

I think it's more BrE. Does it sound old-fasioned in the United States?
Thanks!!
Oh, no - drop dead is fine. It is one of many expressions that mean more or less the same thing, and there are those who tend to not use the two you mention, or at least we don't use them very often. Drop dead, while hardly polite, doesn't contain any expletives, so that makes it preferable in some circumstances or to some people.

Edit: I guess it might sound "old-fashioned" to those who don't mind casual expletive use. 👁 Smile :)
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There is also a nice and american tv-comedy called "drop dead diva".
I saw it recently and really liked it!
I haven't seen that show, but I think this is a reference to another idiom, "drop dead gorgeous," which basically means "extremely gorgeous." You can find a thread that talks about that expression here: http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=1410598

It's rather odd to use "drop dead" this way and leave off the "gorgeous" part, but I think the producers of the show decided alliteration (all those D's) was more important than making sense. 👁 Wink ;)
There is also a nice and american tv-comedy called "drop dead diva".
I saw it recently and really liked it!
Drop-dead as an adjective, like here, is a hyperbole, saying that something is so desirable that it's worth dying for.

Drop dead as a command means you should die. You say it to irritating people.

Two very different uses of similar terms.
I have to differ here: "drop dead!" as a way of saying "screw you!" does sound comically old-fashioned to me (and I'm not super-young). And while I confess to being a casual expletive user, "screw you!" is considered pretty tame even by my 80-something non-swearing mother. Not that I would say "screw you!" to my mother, but I could say it in front of her and she'd just giggle. I suspect she'd find "drop dead" more offensive. She'd take it literally.
I haven't heard "Drop dead!" for years. I'd say it's passé at this point.
>>I suspect she'd find "drop dead" more offensive. She'd take it literally.

I suppose I'm pretty old-fashioned myself, and that may be the reason I'd have the same reaction. To be honest, I frequently use (in my head, not out loud) the most obscene language you could possibly imagine. Perhaps because of this, I'm not much fazed when people direct it at me. (Of course, I never give them reason to. 👁 Roll Eyes :rolleyes:
) If someone told me to drop dead, I think it would really hurt my feelings! 👁 Frown :(
I think the distinction made by Parla between old-fashioned and passé is appropriate. "Drop dead" used as an insult is not old-fashioned, as in something my grandmother would say. However it is a bit passé. I last heard it regularly in the 1970s and 1980s.
We're just going to have to agree to disagree, then. I don't see "drop dead" as passe, and I also don't see "screw you" as even slightly tame. Unless it's being used as a joke, which it fairly frequently is, it is an insult - not as bad as "fuck you," of course, but still quite insulting.

As for the modifier "drop dead," it is normally used as an adverb modifying adjectives such as "gorgeous," "handsome" or "sexy." But in "Drop Dead Diva," either it or "diva" is being used as an adjective, and neither of those is correct as far as I know. I think whoever came up with the name was just a bit too fond of alliteration.
Well, JustKate lives in Indiana and Parla and I live in big cities in the northeast. So this may be a regional difference.

The U.S. is a big country and certainly the hip insults are going to be different in different regions.
Now, now - I didn't say it was "hip" - just not passe. 👁 Smile :)
Surely "screw you" isn't hip either. It's so entrenched in the language that it's beyond hipness. It just is. Either one could eventually suffer the fate of, say, "Damn your eyes!" or other antique curses and be relegated to old novels or to the language of those who like to use antique expressions. I'm just saying that for "drop dead," this hasn't happened yet.

But of course you're right that there can be regional differences in such things. There often are.
That's why I liked Parla's adjective of "passé" since it's not old-fashioned/archaic like "Damn you eyes." It's completely understandable, but at least in my area, passé enough that it would bring a smile to my lips. For example, anyone remember the expression "want a medal?" when used to suggest someone is bragging too much? To me that's from the same era as "drop dead." It isn't old-fashioned, just passé and if you use it, it humorously brings back a phrase we all remember from decades ago. I totally believe JustKate that "drop dead" is not passé in Indiana while not necessarily hip; I'll bet there are other regions of the country as well where this is also the case.
For me (with my literal mind) Drop dead! is a far worse thing to spit at someone than Fuck off!, which, through overuse and 'semantic spread', has become pretty well meaningless. And yes, I do swear a lot.
I'm not sure if it's still common in BrE as I tend to avoid the kind of situation which might require it.
We're just going to have to agree to disagree, then. I don't see "drop dead" as passe, and I also don't see "screw you" as even slightly tame. Unless it's being used as a joke, which it fairly frequently is, it is an insult - not as bad as "fuck you," of course, but still quite insulting.

I'm guessing the reason that both I and my mother think "screw you" is pretty tame is because we would ONLY say it in a joking way. I can't imagine saying "screw you" to someone in genuine anger or with an intent to be genuinely insulting--it would just sound too comical to me. "Fuck you" I could use jokingly or seriously, and NEVER in front of my mother. "Drop dead" is something that would just never occur to me to say, jokingly or otherwise.
I can remember when a girl might say "drop dead" to a boy who tried to pick her up.It was usually followed by a little giggle with her girlfriend. It could have meant anything from "go f... yourself" to "try harder" to "I think you're cute". I can't remember it said with malice, in that sort of situation.
Hi,
I've read all comments, but there is no its meaning. I too saw this word on a Korean drama "plan B", I can't remember the names of characters, but the one who said these words was famous investigator(old man),

He said to one of his competitor, "drop dead", while waving his hands like meaning "get lost".
After saying, his competitor leave him, because they were chasing to discover the gold that was hidden in the car. At that time I thought it means "disappear", but I am unsure that is why I am asking you.

Thank you in advance.
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It's a bit hard to say, but I think it's just being used as a fairly mild insult, in this case as a way of dismissing the other person. "Drop dead" hasn't ever meant "disappear," at least not as far as I know, but in combination with the hand-waving motion you mention, it sounds as though it's being used to indicate "I don't like you and I don't want you around me."
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