180

plural 180s · alternative 180° · alternative one-eighty

1. hobbiesAn instance of spinning 180 degrees, so that one is facing in the opposite direction.

   He did a 180 off the diving board.

2. figurativelyThe exact opposite.

   The friendly welcome was a 180 from what she had been expecting.

   1 more example

   As a result of his refusal, the employee was subsequently canned in 2015 on the basis of […] being boring […] In other words, it was a complete 180 from most employees who get fired for being too wild.

   2022 November 25, B. Cost, “Man wins legal right to be 'boring' at work, gets $3K from company”, in New York Post, NYP Holdings, retrieved 27 Nov 2022

3. broadlyfigurativelyA complete change of direction or opinion.

   She used to like turnips, but she did a 180 and now hates them.

   2 more examples

   Got so sick of crying, so just lately When I catch myself, I do a 180

   2006, Amy Winehouse, Paul O'Duffy, “Wake Up Alone”, in Back to Black, performed by Amy Winehouse

   The lack of 180s partly results from the way that scientific disciplines ground themselves over time. In retrospect, one can’t be surprised that the first experiment to carefully examine the aether failed to find it. But it would be extremely surprising if, after decades of experimental verification, quarks were shown not to exist. In addition, as disciplines grow older and bigger, they end up naturally absorbing people with minority points of view. So instead of entire disciplines executing a U-turn, these minority beliefs shift and twist while becoming acceptable to the majority. […] Then there is the political influence on scientific 180s. In the U.S., politics and science collided right after 1803, the year of the Louisiana Purchase. […] The argument over the climate in the plains was an early example of an increasingly common phenomenon: the mismatch between the slow, unsteady movement of scientific understanding and the immediate, short-term imperatives of politics and economics, which can lead to what seem like vertiginous scientific reversals.

   2025 August 19, Charles C. Mann, “What Happens When an Entire Generation of Scientists Changes Its Mind? Total reversals in scientific thinking are rare—but earth-shattering”, in Josh Fischman, editor, Scientific American

   Synonyms: U-turn, about-face, about-turn

4. dartsA turn where all three darts hit the treble 20 sector, scoring 180 points (the maximum possible).