flipping the script
Turning tables dramatically
Flipping the script means reversing an expected situation or dynamic, often by turning someone's tactics or assumptions against them.
The phrase comes from film and theater, where a literal script dictates what happens next—to flip it is to make the story go a different way.
She flipped the script on the interviewer and started asking her own questions.
It often implies gaining the upper hand or subverting a power imbalance.
- reframingChanging interpretive context
- plot twistSudden narrative redirection
- turning the tablesGaining advantage over opponent
- counter-narrativeStory opposing mainstream version
- reverse psychologyUrging opposite of desired outcome
disruption · subversion · power move · activism · brainstorming · originality · lateral thinking · fresh perspective · role reversal · empowerment · taking control · paradigm shift · game changer · design thinking · resistance · against the grain · revolution · adaptability
flipping the scripttoeing the line
Adhering to expectations
staying in one's lane · conforming · playing it safe · falling in line · business as usual
flipping the scriptdeferring
Postponing or yielding respectfully
submitting · playing the victim · keeping one's head down · acquiescing
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