What does 'the weird turn pro' mean?

[achyuxiaoyu]

Hello:
I wanted to know what does the phrase, "When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" means. Actually I understood the first part of it. But the second part "the weird turn pro" is not clear to me. What does the word "weird" stand for, here?

Any answer is appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

In this case, pro is short for professional. The saying means that when a situation becomes weird, people who had exhibited an amateurish level of weirdness, will now perform at a professional level.

 

[achyuxiaoyu]

Thanks a lot, jimmysnyder, and can you tell me much more about the background of this phrase?

 

[Evo]

Thanks a lot, jimmysnyder, and can you tell me much more about the background of this phrase?

The correct phrase is "when the going gets tough, the tough get going".

You're quote is apparently a play by a journalist named Hunter S. Thompson on the original quote

 

[physics girl phd]

Hunter S. Thompson

Perhaps not a "play" but a bastardization... The guy's brain was fried most hours of the day... which certainly makes his writing interesting.

 

[Evo]

Perhaps not a "play" but a bastardization... The guy's brain was fried most hours of the day... which certainly makes his writing interesting.

Very true.

 

[Jimmy Snyder]

can you tell me much more about the background of this phrase?

As posted by Evo, this quote is a paraphrase of "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". I first heard this phrase during the Watergate scandal when Attorney General John Mitchell was quoted as having said it. I did not realize until now that he did not originate the saying. Here is a site with some earlier references.

http://lloyd.emich.edu/cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0212a&L=ads-l&D=1&H=1&F=&S=&P=3605

I had trouble understanding the saying at first because like some others, I associated the phrase "get going" with "run away" as in the admittedly sexist expression: "The only way to fight a woman is with your hat. Grab it and get going."