Mic

[Perry Lassiter]

I saw it again today, this time on Jeopardy. The form "mic" showed up for "mike" as short for microphone. For the last year or two, that spelling has been popping up more and more, perhaps popullarized by the expression "drop the mic," which seems to mean finishing. Anybody know anything about its etymology or origin or whatever?

[bnjtokyo]

The internet provided me with this link to a Guardian article that explains the significance of the act:
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/sho ... nts-dinner
The article cites 1987 as the earliest use in print although the phrase clearly predates that.

This article in SLATE is also worth reading, pushing the date back a few years
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/201 ... e_mic.html

[Perry Lassiter]

Thanks. Both are great articles. A lot I didn't know. But no one has yet dealt with the change in spelling from mike to mic, both from microphone, of course. I believe I've seen the word used in other amplified speech settings besides dropping it.