It’s a natural extension of the older term. “A [whatever] dropped right in front of me” conveys the original and new meanings just fine.
“A [whatever] was dropped in Japan. Where is [whatever]?”
“In Japan, for one.”
“A [whatever] was dropped in Japan. Where is [whatever]?”
“In Japan, for one.”
I think it’s kinda lame in its escaped-containment form, and am surprised it’s been one of those things that stuck around as long as it has, but would place it low on my list of language gripes, personally.