You use the phrase ‘Dropping Like Flies’ to indicate that people or animals are falling dead or ill in large numbers.
Example of use: “The flu is going around the office. People are dropping like flies.”
Interesting fact about Dropping Like Flies
The origin of the expression ‘dropping like flies’ isn’t known for certain, although it is a clear allusion to the short-lived life an insect leads. An early printed version comes from a May 1902 edition of the Atlanta Constitution: “I saw men and women rushing back and forth within the flames. They would run along, then came the choking smoke and they would drop like dead flies.”
