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3. turn tits up

turn tits up

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turn tits up

1. mildly vulgar To break or malfunction; to die, fall apart, or cease to work. (A variant of the more common "go tits up," itself a play on the phrase "go belly up." "Tits up" is sometimes hyphenated.) Sorry Mark, I'd love to give you a lift to the airport, but my car's turned tits up on me again. It looks like our co-op might be turning tits-up if we aren't granted a licence for our communal work premises.

2. mildly vulgar By extension, to have a poor, undesired, or ruinous outcome; to fail completely or not come together at all. We were all set to have our picnic on Saturday, but the weather turned tits up, and we had to cancel at the last minute. The merger deal between the two companies turned tits-up when it came to light that one of the CEOs had been dodging tax obligations for several years.

See also: tit, turn, up