Idiom
a short drop and a sudden stop
Meaning
A fall to one's death by hanging.
Meaning adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.
Examples
“The old outlaw feared a short drop and a sudden stop.”
“The judge sentenced the prisoner to a short drop and a sudden stop for his crimes.”
“In the grim days of the frontier, the condemned man faced his final moments knowing he would meet a short drop and a sudden stop.”
Examples
simple
“The old outlaw feared a short drop and a sudden stop.”
contextual
“The judge sentenced the prisoner to a short drop and a sudden stop for his crimes.”
complex
“In the grim days of the frontier, the condemned man faced his final moments knowing he would meet a short drop and a sudden stop.”
Origin
The phrase relies upon the internal rhyme of *drop* with *stop* for its longevity. It remains a clinical, albeit rhythmic, description of the mechanics of judicial hanging.
Key words
Related idioms
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