Word.ws English Dictionary

when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro

when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro phrase: in times of change or upheaval, anyone can form a legitimate business from their own personal vision, however different it may be.

Phrase

when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro

  1. In times of change or upheaval, anyone can form a legitimate business from their own personal vision, however different it may be.
    • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. That is my personal motto, and it has made me what I am today.2010, Hunter S Thompson, Hey Rube, →ISBN
    • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro, and I have certainly been both in my life. Ask anyone. They know. They remember. They'll tell you that I was both weird and a pro.2012, Nick Mamatas, The Damned Highway, →ISBN

Examples of when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro in a sentence

  • Hunter Thompson famously coined the rallying cry, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!” saying anyone was qualified to make a difference if they had the heart, mind, and will to do so.[2013, Chrisann Brennan, The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs, →ISBN:
  • When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” He picked up his wireless laptop.2015, Douglas Lain, In the Shadow of the Towers: Speculative Fiction in a Post-9/11 World, →ISBN:

Origin of when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro

From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) by Hunter S. Thompson.

Questions about when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro

What does when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro mean?
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro means in times of change or upheaval, anyone can form a legitimate business from their own personal vision, however different it may be.
How do you use when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro in a sentence?
Hunter Thompson famously coined the rallying cry, “When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro!” saying anyone was qualified to make a difference if they had the heart, mind, and will to do so.
What part of speech is when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro?
When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro is a phrase.

Words near when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro in the dictionary

  1. when the cat's away
  2. when the cat's away the mice play
  3. when the cat's away the mice will play
  4. when the chips are down
  5. when the going gets tough, the tough get going
  6. when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro
  7. when the looting starts, the shooting starts
  8. when the music stops
  9. when the time comes
  10. when they go low, we go high
  11. when they go low, we go lower

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Cite this entry: “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/when_the_going_gets_weird%2C_the_weird_turn_pro. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.