Home » Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

A Way with Words, a radio show and podcast about language and linguistics.

Discussion Forum (Archived)

Please consider registering
Guest
Forum Scope


Match



Forum Options



Min search length: 3 characters / Max search length: 84 characters
The forums are currently locked and only available for read only access
sp_TopicIcon
Euphemism for u-turn
dhenderson
Sunnyvale, CA
70 Posts
(Offline)
1
2008/01/28 - 3:48pm

I know someone who consistently says, "flip a bitch" when she means "make a u-turn." This is more than a little grating on my ears, especially coming from a woman in her 50's who very rarely uses profanity, and I'm curious about the origin of the expression. I believe she grew up in Kansas and moved in her 20's to the Los Angeles area; could it be regional? She's the only one I've ever heard use the term. Thanks in advance for a clue.

Dan

I'd give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

Guest
2
2008/01/29 - 11:48am

I've never heard that one.

I'm not really sure how to spell what we used to call u-turns. It was pronounced "yu-ee." You did not "flip" one, but rather you "pulled a yu-ee."

Guest
3
2008/01/29 - 5:07pm

Paradox said:

“pulled a yu-ee.”


Yes! That one is very familiar. I don't believe I've seen an attempt to spell it before.

Guest
4
2008/03/07 - 5:01pm

It seems that “to flip a bitch” is to make an illegal U-turn, which may be redundant. But I've heard that expression some. It's gotta be a SoCal original, I bet.
As for the “bitch” part and where it came from, who knows?

Forum Timezone: UTC -7
Show Stats
Administrators:
Martha Barnette
Grant Barrett
Moderators:
Grant Barrett
Top Posters:
Newest Members:
A Conversation with Dr Astein Osei
Forum Stats:
Groups: 1
Forums: 1
Topics: 3647
Posts: 18912

 

Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 618
Members: 1268
Moderators: 1
Admins: 2
Most Users Ever Online: 1147
Currently Online:
Guest(s) 56
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)