to do a 180
4
6.8
- phrasal verb
- /duː ə wʌn ˈeɪti/
- Informal
- The politician surprised everyone when he did a 180 on his promise to lower taxes.
- did a 180 turn
- done a 180 degrees
- then did a 180
Examples
-
I did a 180, put on my running gear, and left my house.
Blog text (24) -
Do you honestly believe... ...you've done a 180 in the few days you've known her?
-
Certain women in his department, he felt sure, still did a 180 when they saw him coming their way.
Fiction book (2002) -
And now, all of a sudden, you do a 180 and this post makes sense to you?
Blog text (29) -
Years later, the NBA did a 180 and talked about opening up the NBA video archive for everybody on the internet to share.
Blog text (24) -
At 1-4-1 and with the season practically a lost cause, I did a 180 and told them every week to just go out, kick the ball around, and have fun.
Blog text (24) -
The ads that will be run will be relentless; it will be video after video of him arguing against the use of a measure when he was opposed to the policy, but then doing a 180 and saying it's OK when it's a policy he supports.
Blog text (13) -
Mitt is a flip-flopper not by being "bipartisan" but by making a statement and then a week, more or less, later doing a 180 and changing his mind to say something else.
Blog text (14) -
She was normal, or her version of normal, for a while, and then she just kind of flipped, did a 180, and went from typical Amy to ignoring my calls, emails, shut me out.
-
After much thought, she decided to do a 180 on her earlier stance about the project.
Synonyms
811
2.6
Decide to think or act differently from before
384
2.0
To move your body to face the opposite direction or change your attitude
81
4.1
To change your mind and accept something you first refused
23
5.3
To suddenly change your opinion or decision
12
5.5
To change a decision or plan and go in a different direction
6
5.1
To show a different opinion after you were against it before
3
6.6
To suddenly change your opinion or plan to the opposite
3
6.7
To change your opinion or position completely and suddenly
Change a plan or decision so the opposite happens
Antonyms
How Reversed
- Informal
4
6.8
41
3.7
811
2.6
227
3.7
4
4.2
Surface Forms
Morphology
The expression combines the verb 'do' and the numeral '180', where '180' conventionally evokes a 180-degree (half) turn — so the sense of a complete reversal is derivable if a learner recognises the number-as-turn metaphor. However, that geometric/metaphorical mapping is not guaranteed for an average B1 learner without prior exposure, so the connection is only partial.
Etymology
The phrase do a 180 comes from the simple image of turning 180 degrees, a half turn that makes you face the opposite way. That's why it now means 'to completely change' your opinion, decision, or direction.