# What is Missy Elliot saying? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 27, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153 "2002-11-27T17:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/1 "2002-11-27T17:49:26Z")
It’s just not true that I really don’t like rap music. I have said I don’t, but the truth is there are a few rap artists whose songs I usually do like-- Outkast, Nelly, Bone Thugs 'n Harmony-- and those who I really cannot stand – Jay-Z, Ja Rule, all of the "Ice"s–(could it be that J-Z and Ja-R are two of the ugliest human beings that ever marred my TV screen and I am judging their music because of this?? Nah.) BTW, has anybody heard The Roots? A couple of people have told me I’d love them, but I’ve never heard of them, much less heard their music. Where was I? Oh yeah. I don’t know what catagory Missy Elliot falls under. I absolutely _hated_ her last single. There is something about hocking up a loogy and spitting it into someone else’s mouth skeeves me beyond endurance. I race to change the radio station when I hear Get UR Freak On. Oh wait. That wasn’t the point of this thread. The point of this thread is Missy Elliot’s new single Work It. Everytime I hear it, I hear something new (best line: _Get a pedicure. Getchyer hair did._). There is one line in the chorus that, I believe, is played backwards. After careful analysis which consisted of listening to the song a few times on the radio, I’ve deduced that the first word is “Did” and the last is “it”. Does anyone know what she says. Does anyone have a reel to reel? Care to hazard a guess? ---
**Author:** ![mattymillhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a3d4f5/32.png) [@mattymillhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mattymillhouse)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 5:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/2 "2002-11-27T17:58:43Z")
“I put my thing down, flip it and reverse it.” [repeat] I’m not a big Missy Elliot fan, but I like the Roots. Of course, take my opinion with a grain of salt, since I also like Ice Cube and dislike Bone Thugs N Harmony. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/3 "2002-11-27T18:03:26Z")
After she says “flip it, reverse it” she says something that sounds almost chinese. Hey! Is she saying “flip it, reverse it” in reverse? That would make sense! ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [November 27, 2002, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/4 "2002-11-27T18:33:49Z")
I would just like to say that as a white big-city attorney it is very difficult to maintain the appropriate office demeanor when I’m singing “You got a big [honk] lemme search it, so I know how hard I gotta work it” under my breath, as I have been doing just about constantly for the last week. –Cliffy P.S. Have you seen Missy Elliot recently – freaky. ---
**Author:** ![Miss\_Gretchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Miss\_Gretchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miss_Gretchen)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/5 "2002-11-28T03:19:12Z")
I think that I know what Biggirl is talking about - in the chorus it sorta sounds like “If yer bleippen bep yep”??? (OK, that’s about the closest I can come up with.) I was actually about to start this very thread! ---
**Author:** ![KarlGrenze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/dbc845/32.png) [@KarlGrenze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KarlGrenze)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/6 "2002-11-28T03:42:07Z")
First reverse line: (from the chorus) It’s (I put thing down, flip and reverse it) Second reverse line: (after "Listen up close while I take you backwards ") (Watch the way Missy like to take it backwards) Then there is a line in which she is speaking some foreign language, just after the “Black, white, Puertorrican, Chinese boys…”. ---
**Author:** ![elfkin477](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a9a28c/32.png) [@elfkin477](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elfkin477)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 3:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/7 "2002-11-28T03:49:49Z")
I haven’t heard this song, but I can never understand what she’s singing. In fact when I saw her first video the first time, I was really happy that MTV gave a shot at fame to a person who was mentally retarded. Then I found out she just has a really bad sense of style (blue sweats?!) and an unintelligable voice. So I went back to thinking MTV sucks. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Fight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/90ced4/32.png) [@Cat\_Fight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Fight)\ **Post date:** [November 28, 2002, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-is-missy-elliot-saying/139153/8 "2002-11-28T04:05:31Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by elfkin477 \* > \*\* when I saw her first video the first time, I was really happy that MTV gave a shot at fame to a person who was mentally retarded. \*\* Funnily enough, while she didn’t do too well in school, her IQ was genius-level. (I know- cite, cite. I saw a bio on her a few months back. Could it have been A&E?)