ENGLISH
REFERENCE

flip off

phr. v..
B2 Upper Intermediate Oxford American English Informal Slang

phr. v.. to show someone your middle finger as a rude way to say you are angry with them.

phr. v.. to perform an obscene gesture by extending the middle finger toward someone, typically as a sign of contempt or anger.


SIMPLE

The driver flipped me off after I honked my horn.

CONTEXTUAL

He got so frustrated with the referee's decision that he flipped him off and was kicked out of the game.

COMPLEX

In a moment of uncharacteristic aggression, the politician flipped off the hecklers who were persistently interrupting his speech.

Particles
off
Separability
optional
Pattern
flip + object + off
Usage

highly informal and considered offensive in most social or professional settings.

Teaching tip

this is the American English equivalent of the British 'give someone the finger'; it is a transitive phrasal verb that is almost always separated when using a pronoun.

Pitfall

He flipped off to me.He flipped me off.the verb does not take the preposition 'to'; the person being gestured at is the direct object.

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