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Falling off the face of the earth

Posted by ESC on October 01, 2008 at 22:02

In Reply to: Falling off the face of the earth posted by Joe on October 01, 2008 at 17:23:

: What is the origin and meaning of the phrase "falling off the face of the earth"?

A guess. Some people used to think the world was flat, a plane, and that a ship could literally sail to the edge and fall off. (
en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/Flat_Earth ) So the phrase is used when someone hasn't been seen for a while -- has dropped out of sight.

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