do an about-face

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do an about-face

1. To turn around a full 180 degrees, especially very suddenly. She did an about-face and walked back up the steps once she saw that the subway wasn't running. I told you, you can't come downstairs until your room is clean. Do an about-face, go back up there, and get to work!

2. To completely reverse one's opinion, position, or course of action regarding some issue, especially very suddenly. The senator seems to have done an about-face on the tax proposal, much to the surprise of his party. Based on the reactions we got from test audiences, we need to do an about-face with the movie's plot.

do an about-face

Also, do a flip-flop or one-eighty . Reverse one's opinion or course of action. For example, The board did an about-face on acquiring more land, or We expected Dad to do a flip-flop concerning our vacation plans, or They had relied on Jim to vote for Harry, but he did a one-eighty and cast his vote for the incumbent . The first term, alluding to the army command to turn around, dates from the first half of the 1900s, and the variants from the second half of the 1900s (the last refers to a 180-degree change of direction).

about face, to do an

To reverse a decision or change one’s opinion. The term comes from the American military command to turn 180 degrees at attention, dating from the mid-nineteenth century, and by 1900 was being used figuratively. A more recent colloquial usage is to do a 180, but it has not yet reached cliché status.

See also: an, to

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References in periodicals archive ?

Starting in January, the Fed has done an about-face on policy and now says its plans to keep rates on hold for the entire year.

Fed sees moderate growth

But the government has done an about-face on appeal, Thacker wrote.

4th Circuit sets new test for sentencing relief

Proving the adage that it is more revealing towatch what someone does, not what they say, it is only now, after the Debtors determined, ingood faith and in the exercise of their business judgment, to pursue a different restructuringtransaction, that these members have done an about-face. Now, the Creditors' Committeepursues an objection that will, if successful, significantly erode the value of the Debtors' estatesand produce a harmful whipsaw effect among the Debtors' senior management over theuncertainty of whether they will receive incentive compensation they have worked (and arecontinuing to work) towards.

Cumulus Asks Court To Nix Executive Bonus Objection

After initially vowing that his country would not be made "a scapegoat," Panama's President Juan Carlos Varela appears to have done an about-face and is promising to cooperate in the fight against money-laundering.

Panama agrees to cooperate with France over 'Panama Papers'

With the release of this report, Coleman had done an about-face: schools could in fact make a difference, he now said.

James S. Coleman: Education's North Star

After many years of trying to obfuscate the data on receiverships in the state, the Bureau has done an about-face the past few years to produce and post on its website a much more helpful and informative package.

Reflections

Najib promised in 2011 to create "the greatest democracy" and launched tentative political liberalisation moves, but has done an about-face since his party suffered its worst result in almost 60 years in subsequent elections.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak under fire over tougher sedition laws

It's funny how some Worcester city councilors seem to have done an about-face in just a matter of months on whether there should be a public discussion about changing Worcester's form of government.

Charter change change of heart; Strong-mayor talk needed soon

But since the 2008 financial crisis, market dynamics have done an about-face that's resulted in an increasing number of nontraditional investors gravitating toward the bond market -- and they, Jonson said, are exhibiting the same kinds of behavioral biases vis- -vis bonds as toward equities.

How Behavioral Finance Can Help Bond Investors

I just recently turned 37, and over the past four years, my family and I have done an about-face thanks to reading your magazine.

Mother's reports "struck a chord" in his soul

As governor of Massachusetts, he helped prepare an impressive climate change plan to reduce that state's greenhouse emissions, but since beginning his presidential campaign, he has done an about-face and now draws cheers from conservative backers when he expresses doubts about climate science.

A record melt in Artic

A majority of the MPs in the lower house of the Diet, Japan's Parliament, rejected the motion put forward by six smaller opposition parties on Tuesday, who say the ruling Democratic Party of Japan has done an about-face on a 2009 pledge not to raise taxes.

Fitch Warns Japan Of Downgrade If Debt Is Not Lowered

Amid high market volatility and the lingering sting from the financial meltdown, investors who once scoffed at paying relatively high fees for such a package have done an about-face. "We have clients who we have been trying to 'educate' for years about variable annuities, but for a variety of reasons just haven't pulled the trigger," says John Freiburger, CLU, ChFC, CFP, principal at Alberth's firm.

The VA value proposition

The Palestinian Authority has apparently done an about-face, and is expected to oppose the Goldstone report in a UN vote Friday.