5150

English

Alternative forms

• fifty-one fifty

Etymology

From Section 5150 of California's Welfare and Institutions Code, regarding involuntary commitment for psychological evaluation and treatment.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɪf.ti.wən.ˈfɪf.ti/

• Audio (California English)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfti

Verb

5150 (third-person singular simple present 5150s, present participle 5150ing, simple past and past participle 5150ed)

1. (transitive, US slang) To involuntarily confine a person for a mental illness that poses a risk to themselves or others.

   Synonyms: commit, section, Baker Act

   • 1998, Timothy R. Tangherlini, Talking trauma: paramedics and their stories, page 117:

     And they're all, "He's over there against the tree, he's not talking to us, he's not saying anything and he has a history of being a psychiatric patient and so we're 5150ing him."

   • 2000, Clint Catalyst, Cottonmouth Kisses, page 150:

     Sure, if you've ever been 5150ed by the Psychiatric Evaluation Team (no thanks to you and Rachael. Just because I was flipping my wig, flinging dishes and threatening to kill myself didn't mean I was actually SUICIDAL, guys! Jeez!) […]

   • 2006, J. T. McCalla, Reversal of Fear, page 187:

     “I'm going to keep him under sedation until tomorrow morning, and then 5150 him at UCI Medical Center Psychiatric Unit.”

   • 2007, Allison Brennan, Karin Tabke, Roxanne St. Claire, What You Can't See, page 382:

     Finally she said, “Zach, i'm calling 911 and have them 5150 you.”

   • 2010, Jane Vandenburgh, A Pocket History of Sex in the Twentieth Century, page 358:

     Then, almost immediately on the heels of Beverly came Dante, who'd been 5150ed by his mother.

   • 2011, Patricia Benner, Patricia Hooper-Kyriakidis, Daphne Stannard, Clinical Wisdom and Interventions in Acute and Critical Care, page 438:

     And it's not possible to 5150 him [place him on a psychiatric hold]. He's not a danger to self, not a danger to others.

Adjective

5150 (comparative more 5150, superlative most 5150)

1. (US slang) Synonym of crazy: Of such an unsound mind that one should be involuntarily confined.