drop the mic

English

Etymology

From the practice of entertainers (particularly rappers) concluding performances by dropping the microphone onto the stage.

Pronunciation

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

Verb

drop the mic (third-person singular simple present drops the mic, present participle dropping the mic, simple past and past participle dropped the mic)

1. (slang, idiomatic) To do or say something decisive, meaningful, or impressive.
   • 2012 June 11, Steph Harmon, “Meta Is Better”, in Brag, number 466, page 26:

     In their past work, both Whedon and Goddard have shown an inclination to embrace tropes so tightly that you're forced to question them – and with Cabin, as one journalist in the room suggests, 'There's kind of a sense of this movie dropping the mic [on the genre] and walking away like, 'There it is guys. Ball's in your court.'

   • 2014 September 11, Tina Chadha, “Rodarte”, in Metro, Boston, page 11:

     Rodarte just dropped the mic on fashion week. After last season's esoteric tribute to "Star Wars" – really, how many women would wear a gown emblazoned with a giant Luke Skywalker? – sisters Kate and Laura Mulleavy's dazzling spring outing mixed the right amount of fantasy and commercial appeal.

   • 2015, Joe O'Shanksy, "Miracles happen: George Miller drops the mic with 'Max Max: Fury Road'", The Tulsa Voice, Volume 2, Number 11, 20 May 2015 - 2 June 2015, page 40 (used in title only)
   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:drop the mic.

Derived terms

• mic drop