H Devaraja Rao wrote:
Meteors fall. Why,then, “meteoric rise�
Actually, meteor refers to the visual phenomenon that we see (and sometimes call a “shooting star”) when a particle from outer space enters the Earth’s atmosphere. Something to do with the extreme heat. Those few that survive this experience and actually fall to Earth are called meteorites. So there.
In any case, my guess is that the expression refers not to direction, but to speed. Or explosiveness. Besides, “meteoric rise” is a cliche, and we writers want to avoid those. Thanks for the fun question, though . . . I always appreciate people who think about such things!
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