15-Jun-2006, 11:18
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 | Key Member | | Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,554
Member Type: English Teacher | |
 Re: “drop like flies”
It describes a lot of people or animals dying in a short time. Flies only live for a few days, and you often find dead or dying flies on their back on window-sills. Imagine hundreds and hundreds of flies flying around; every few minutes a fly drops to the ground and dies.
It's usually used in a semi-humorous context, so it would not be appropriate, for example, in a serious news report about a sudden outbreak of a fatal disease. |
“drop like flies” 
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