drop dead I hate you, you are contemptible.

This rude imperative dates from the early 1900s. An early example appeared in John O’Hara’s novel Appointment in Samarra (1934): “‘Let’s put snow on his face.’ ‘Oh, drop dead.’” Interestingly enough, in the second half of the 1900s the term, now hyphen- ated drop-dead, began to be used as an adjective or adverb meaning “very” or “exceedingly” and usually in a positive context. It was frequently paired, espe- cially in the phrase drop-dead gorgeous. For example, “She arrived at the screen- ing in furs and diamonds, looking drop-dead gorgeous.”