In 1845, Francis Pettygrove and Asa Lovejoy owned the claim to the land that would eventually become the city of Portland, Oregon. Two of the most famous coin flips in American history involve the city of Portland, Oregon, and the first example of powered flight. Other acceptable methods include drawing straws or drawing a high card in a pack of cards. In the UK, a coin flip can be used to decide a winner in a local or national election where candidates receive the exact same number of votes. There was even a 2017 election to the 94th District of the Virginia House of Delegates that could have been decided by a coin toss, but they went with the other option: drawing a name out of a hat. For example, a coin toss determines the election cycle for senators when a new state is added to the Union.
Double sided coin saying professional#
In professional American football, a coin toss has been used since 1892 to decide which team will get possession of the ball at the start of the game.įlipping a coin has also been the way decisions have been made in politics in the UK and in the US. On many coins, one side had a cross, while “pile” is the word they used to describe the hammer-created mark from striking the metal on the coin’s other side.Ĭoin tosses have been used for millennia to make benign and major decisions. In Medieval England, they played a similar game known as Cross and PIle. To the Romans, coin flipping was known as navia aut caput (“ship or head”), as some of the coins at the time had the head of the emperor on one side and a ship on the other. Metal coins have been around since at least the 7th century BC, but one of the earliest accounts of people flipping coins comes from ancient Rome. You might say something along the lines of, “Honestly, we’re just flipping a coin at this point whether this vehicle will get us all the way to California or not.” Where Does ‘Flip a Coin’ Come From? The figurative meaning of ‘flip a coin’ is simply an extension of the literal meaning.įor instance, let’s say that you’re on a road trip with your friend, and their car has been having major problems the entire drive. Understanding the Figurative Meaning of ‘Flip a Coin’ If you’re left feeling uneasy or questioning your coin toss methods by the results, though, your gut is telling you that the other choice is the right decision. If the decision made by the coin leaves you feeling relieved or satisfied, then going with the decision is a good call. This is because it can help you recognize what your gut feeling is on the topic. Beyond that, some experts argue that flipping a coin is an excellent way to make decisions. In general, though, it’s a good idea to make sure that the two options you are pitting against each other are of equal merit. The same study also found that people who flip coins to make decisions are more likely to actually follow through with the choice they made and end up more satisfied. In this case, you can assign each color of the shirt to a side of the coin, flip the coin, and let the coin decide for you.Īccording to a fascinating study, flipping a coin when making major life decisions actually coincides with higher overall happiness after a six-month period. Let’s say that you can’t decide whether to wear a blue shirt or a red shirt to the party you’re going to. You can also ‘flip a coin’ when you’re making a decision on your own, but you feel completely stumped.
If it lands on tails, though, you’re having Mexican food for dinner.
If you choose heads and it lands on heads, you’ll order sandwiches. You’ve decided that you want to order takeout from a restaurant, but your spouse wants Mexican food while you want to get sandwiches.įaced with this impasse, you might decide to ‘flip a coin.’ You each pick a side of the coin (heads or tails) and then throw the coin into the air to see which side it lands on. Understanding the Literal Meaning of ‘Flip a Coin’įor a literal example of when you might choose to ‘flip a coin,’ let’s say that you and your spouse can’t decide what to eat for dinner tonight. It can also be used figuratively to refer to giving something over to chance, particularly when there are two equally likely outcomes. ‘Flip a coin’ means to decide something by tossing a coin into the air and selecting between two choices depending on which side it lands on. Other Ways to Say ‘Flip a Coin’ What Does ‘Flip a Coin’ Mean?
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