# If I told you I "Flipped a bitch" would you know what I was talking about? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 31, 2011, 9:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784 "2011-08-31T21:02:03Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/61 "2011-09-01T04:03:04Z")
Never. Northeast Ohio. ---
**Author:** ![VitrolicBump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/a587f6/32.png) [@VitrolicBump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VitrolicBump)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/62 "2011-09-01T04:09:18Z")
I just started hearing it a few years ago here in AZ. Now something no one I know hears when I say it comes from my gramma when I do a u-turn: Hang on to your bippies (meaning underwear). No, I don’t know where she got it. Lol As for the u-turns here, they are legal only if you stay in the lane closest to you (same lane). If you know the turning radius of most cars, this doesn’t happen. People do it anyway, just as safe as possible. Yes, it’s a silly law but I also understand the reasoning. Only kind of. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/63 "2011-09-01T04:37:46Z")
After 20 years in the Bay Area, I’ve never heard the term. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/64 "2011-09-01T04:40:20Z")
Chicago. Never heard it. ---
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/65 "2011-09-01T04:57:25Z")
Milwaukee. Never heard the phrase in my life, but I would have guessed it meant flipping someone off (of something along those lines). As others have said, the only slang term we had was “Hang a U-ie” ---
**Author:** ![Student\_Driver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3da27b/32.png) [@Student\_Driver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Student_Driver)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/66 "2011-09-01T11:25:03Z")
> [@chizzuk](#): > > A lot of possibilities entered my mind when reading the phrase but anything having to do with driving a vehicle or U-turns wasn’t even on the radar. I have heard “make/hang a u-ie” but say “make a U-turn.” This is me precisely, down to the “make a U-turn” thing. I never heard nor would have understood the OP’s phrase, have only read “make/hang a u-ie” (and never have heard it actually said) but would understand it. Never heard anything involving chucking, flipping, pulling, pitching. It’s “do/make a U-turn/180” here. 37, male, decades in central Indiana, plus time spent in Chicago and Pittsburgh areas. ---
**Author:** ![Idle\_Thoughts](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/838e76/32.png) [@Idle\_Thoughts](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Idle_Thoughts)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/67 "2011-09-01T12:00:52Z")
People who had never heard of it before: 37 People who knew what it referred to in some way or another: 17 Guess it’s not really all that common. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/68 "2011-09-01T12:21:57Z")
I’ve never heard it, or most of the other slang terms for it in this thread. I’d assume that “flipping a bitch” meant turning a female dog upside-down. Probably against its will. ---
**Author:** ![Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/96bed5/32.png) [@Patty\_O\_Furniture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Patty_O_Furniture)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/69 "2011-09-01T12:46:25Z")
Never heard it. I usually say “make a u-turn”. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 12:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/70 "2011-09-01T12:47:48Z")
New England. Never heard of it. > [@Tom\_Tildrum](#): > > “Is Wayne Brady gonna have to flip a bitch?” This was my exact thought too. ---
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/71 "2011-09-01T13:40:35Z")
> [@hogarth](#): > > I thought “whipping shitties” was equal to “doing donuts”. In rural western Wisconsin, it’s both. “Whipping a shitty” most often refers to doing donuts, especially in winter. But \*\*TransMonk \*\*has it exactly correct in the U-turn usage; it’s just less frequently used for U-turns than it is for donuts, IMO. At least where I grew up. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/72 "2011-09-01T13:42:41Z")
As an aside, my preferred slang term for “make a U-turn” is “bang a donut”. I must have read that in a book when I was a kid. ---
**Author:** ![Spice\_Weasel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spice_weasel/32/5435_2.png) [@Spice\_Weasel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spice_Weasel)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 1:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/73 "2011-09-01T13:45:18Z")
Making a U-turn. (Southeast Michigan.) ---
**Author:** ![Teufelblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c89c15/32.png) [@Teufelblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Teufelblitz)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/74 "2011-09-01T14:40:56Z")
Never heard this particular phrase, but I live in the Mid-South. My family tends to call U-turns “Bat-turns” in reference to Bruce Wayne’s dramatic driving style, but we are all nerds. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/75 "2011-09-01T14:54:18Z")
Chicago. Sounds vaguely, vaguely familiar, but not part of my local lexicon. “Pull a u-ey” is the phrase most commonly used. There’s also “hang a louie” and “hang a ralph(ie)” for left and right turns, respectively. I don’t know how common those are here, but it’s known among my friends. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/76 "2011-09-01T14:57:41Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > Growing up in Southern California, I remember using this phrase back in the eighties. > > “Dude, you missed the turn. Flip a bitch; the turn will be on the left.” This, in its entirety. ---
**Author:** ![Krouget](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b38774/32.png) [@Krouget](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Krouget)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/77 "2011-09-01T15:09:35Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I would have assumed that you had displayed your middle finger to an unsociable woman. A misinterpretation in which I am apparently not alone. That’s what I assumed, only not specific to a woman. I also assumed it meant having sex in a one-night-stand fashion, mainly because I see “flipping” as a quick turnaround of some object (which I would normally apply to cars if you’re fixing and reselling them, but also to people, if you objectify them using slang terms). Of course, my understanding of the term easily changes, depending on context. ---
**Author:** ![FoundWaldo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dfb087/32.png) [@FoundWaldo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FoundWaldo)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/78 "2011-09-01T15:17:53Z")
> [@NinetyWt](#): > > Never heard of it. > > U-turns are illegal here, so… only do one if you can get away with it. “Hang a u-ie” I suppose. Wait. U-turns aren’t legal ANYWHERE in your location? How is that even possible? I’ve lived places where they weren’t legal unless there was a sign specifically saying they were, but I’ve never heard of them being outlawed entirely. And yes, I’ve heard and used the term “flip a bitch” many times. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/79 "2011-09-01T16:26:00Z")
Never heard of it. If I had to guess, I’d say it means throwing a tantrum. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [September 1, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784/80 "2011-09-01T16:42:16Z")
I’ve never heard the phrase in Quebec and Ontario, but I would have extrapolated that you’d had a tantrum of some kind, in line with ‘pitching a fit’, ‘having a bitch-fest’, ‘flipping out’, etc. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-i-told-you-i-flipped-a-bitch-would-you-know-what-i-was-talking-about/594784.md?page=5)