turkey drop

Due to the association of turkeys with American Thanksgiving.

turkey drop (plural turkey drops)

1. (literally) An event in which a turkey is dropped from a high altitude.
   • 2018 November 20, Annie Lowrey, “Tossing a Bird That Does Not Fly Out of a Plane”, in The Atlantic‎:

     In the late 1980s, the tabloid sent two reporters to the turkey drop and ran an exposé titled "It's Sick! Yellville Turkeys Tossed Out of Planes—For Fun." The story described the "nightmarish scene" of the birds plunging to their death below.

2. (slang, neologism) A breakup occurring around Thanksgiving, especially associated with first-year college students who have become separated from their high school sweethearts.
   • 2017 October 26, Lea Rose Emery, “How To Avoid The "Turkey Drop", AKA Getting Dumped Around Thanksgiving”, in Bustle‎:

     A lot of Turkey Drops happen in your Freshman year at college — and it's not hard to see why. If any of you, like me, had an ill-fated high school into college relationship, you've been there.

   • 2020 September 17, Hannah Smothers, Carina Hsieh, “Everything You Need to Know About the "Turkey Drop," aka Why Everyone Feels Like Breaking Up in November”, in Cosmopolitan‎:

     It would be impossible to estimate the number of couples that participate in the turkey drop on an annual basis, but it’s probably a lot.

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

1. (transitive, slang, neologism) To break up with a partner around Thanksgiving.
   • 2017 November 22, Sarah Polus, “The dreaded 'turkey drop': Here’s why couples break up around Thanksgiving”, in Washington Post‎:

     "We were both home and I wanted to do it face to face as opposed to a phone call or text," he [Robbie Schenker] said of turkey dropping his then long-distance girlfriend.

   • 2022 November 23, Lauren Sarner, “8 shows to watch and stream during Thanksgiving weekend 2022”, in New York Post‎:

     When small-town college girl Lucy comes home for Thanksgiving break, she suspects she will be "turkey dropped," or dumped by her high school boyfriend.