Meanings
- 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, →ISBN3 more examples
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, →ISBNHunter 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. Many did.
[2013, Chrisann Brennan, The Bite in the Apple: A Memoir of My Life with Steve Jobs, →ISBN"The chair is not that weird," Van muttered. "It's the whole world that's weird now. 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
From Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1971) by Hunter S. Thompson.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/when%20the%20going%20gets%20weird%2C%20the%20weird%20turn%20pro
“when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/when%20the%20going%20gets%20weird%2C%20the%20weird%20turn%20pro. Accessed November 5, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/when%20the%20going%20gets%20weird%2C%20the%20weird%20turn%20pro.
Source: when the going gets weird, the weird turn pro on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.