“Whatever trips your trigger” means “whatever makes you happy” or “whatever’s your choice/desire” or “whatever turns you on” or “whatever floats your boat.” The saying is cited in print from at least 1977.
“Whatever trips your trigger” is sometimes associated with Texas and Texans, especially those who carry guns. A Peoples Pharmacy commercial on KLBJ-AM radio in Austin (airing at least in 2010) stated that “whatever trips your trigger” is a typical Texas saying.
Urban Dictionary
whatever trips your trigger
Synonymous with “whatever floats your boat.” Slightly derisive.
Mother: “You know, I never thought about nipple piercings, but whatever trips your trigger, sweetie.”
by soror May 8, 2010
20 October 1977, Seattle (WA) Daily Times, pg. E23, col. 8 classified ad:
If that trips your trigger, call us…
Google Books
Working with children:
Effective communication through self-awareness
By Dana K. Lewis
[S.l. : s.n.],
1981
Pg. 12:
He looked up at me very slowly saying, “Well, whatever trips your trigger.”
Google Books
Asset in Black
By Casey Prescott
New York, NY: Arbor House
1985
Pg. 17:
“Whatever trips your trigger.”
28 September 1987, Burlington (IA) Hawk Eye, pg. 6A, col. 3:
“The more you know about yourself, the more power you have. Find out what behavior trips your trigger.”
—Cathie SIders, Ph. D.
by Amorphous Blob is thrilled to have hair on October 8th, 2007
Answerbag.com
Question
by Amorphous Blob is thrilled to have hair on October 8th, 2007
What are some more good phrases like “Whatever floats your boat” or “Whatever rubs your Buddha”?
(...)
ANSWERS
by Yeahwell… on October 8th, 2007
Whatever trips your trigger, I must say.
(...)
by Smart2 is back! Did you miss me? on October 8th, 2007
whatever frosts your cookies
whatever spills your pills
whatever trips your trigger
Above, a 1934 plaque from the Big Apple Night Club at West 135th Street and Seventh Avenue in Harlem. Discarded as trash in 2006. Now a Popeyes fast food restaurant on Google Maps.
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Above, Big Apple Corner at 54th Street and Broadway in Manhattan. Google Maps. Stolen and missing, 2021-2024.
Above, John J. Fitz Gerald, from the Aug. 15, 1931, Binghamton (NY) Press, pg. 14.
Listen to Robert Emmerich introduce "The Big Apple," a hit song from 1937. Music written by Bob and performed by Tommy Dorsey's Clambake Seven with Bob on piano. Lyrics written by Buddy Bernier and sung by Edythe Wright. Audio provided by Dorothy Emmerich.
Also listen to a 1937 "The Big Apple" song by Ozzie Nelson and his Orchestra. See a 1929 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald and a 1931 photo of John J. Fitz Gerald.
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