A darkly comic British and Australian idiom for dying — specifically the kind of sudden or unexpected death you might not see coming. The image comes from a bird dropping off its perch, lifeless. It's used with dry humour, which is very much in keeping with how English-speaking cultures often approach death — sideways, with a wink. You might hear it about someone who's very old, very unhealthy, or doing something reckless. Blunt but somehow never cruel.
Given how he'd been living, his doctor warned him he'd fall off his perch before fifty if he didn't make some changes.
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(slang, idiomatic) To die.
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Regional slang from around the English-speaking world — British, Australian, Irish, Caribbean, Nigerian, Filipino, AAVE, and the hyphenated-English dialects that make the internet sound local.
See all Regional & Other slang on Slangora.