Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to persuade someone to do something.

1903		H. James Ambassadors xxii 291: One of his sisters [...] had observed her somewhere with me. She had spoken to her brother – turned him on.
1925		Black Mask Aug. III 107: Well, then I got turned on; and I told him the whole story.
1973		L. Shecter On the Pad 200: [T]he complete psychological interrogation doesn’t work all the time and a few raps in the mouth really turn some people on. It works.

2. (US black) to explain.

1971

(con. 1930s–50s) D. Wells Night People 118: Turn on. To explain.

3. (US black) to render angry.

1962

P. Crump Burn, Killer, Burn! 347: ‘Can the comment, Mike.’ [...] ‘Well, for crap’s sake, what happened to turn you on all of a sudden?’.

4. (Aus./N.Z.) to provide liquor, etc, e.g. for a party.

1948

S.L. Elliott Rusty Bugles I iv: chris: We’re going to turn on a bit of supper tonight. ollie: On Chris’s cake and my bottle of beer.

5. (orig. US, also turn) to take drugs, esp. heroin, morphine or cannabis [note exhortation by Timothy Leary (1920–96) to ‘turn on, tune in and drop out’].

1954		J. Blake ‘Ex Post Facto’ in Joint (1972) 54: We turned on and, in local idiom, ‘made the scene.’.
1955		H. Braddy ‘Narcotic Argot Along the Mexican Border’ in AS XXX:2 88: TURN ON, v. phr. To smoke a package of marijuana cigarettes.
1959		A. Anderson ‘Dance of the Infidels’ in Lover Man 153: ‘Do you turn?’ [...] ‘You mean do I smoke?’ ‘Yeah, man.’.
1963–74		B. Humphries Barry McKenzie [comic strip] in Complete Barry McKenzie (1988) 22: [of amphetamines] Let’s all be brothers and turn on together!
1964		H. Selby Jr Last Exit to Brooklyn 69: Goldie told her she had a box of syrettes and [...] when things are a little more settled we will go inside and turn on.
1968		L. Wolf Voices from the Love Generation 88: [of LSD] When I first heard Leary say, ‘Turn on, Tune in, Drop out,’ it really upset me.
1977		C. McFadden Serial 25: Phil asked her [...] if she’d like to go back to his place, drink some wine and maybe turn on.
1980		(con. 1940s–60s) H. Huncke ‘Ed Leary’ in Eve. Sun Turned Crimson (1998) 126: [of heroin] The three of us went up to the room and turned on.
1999		Guardian G2 5 July 1: Turn on, check in, dry out.

6. (orig. US) to offer, or introduce drugs to another person.

1952		Kerouac letter 10 May in Charters I (1995) 349: He [...] was reclined in a sumptuous couch with furnishings and turned us on.
1961		L. Block Diet of Treacle (2008) 41: He’ll turn some square little chick on for the first time and she’ll come across.
1961		T. Taylor Baron’s Court All Change (2011) 57: ‘[A] little Greek cat I turned on for the first time. [...] I [...] made him a nice fat zeppelin-shaped spliff.
1966		J. Mills Panic in Needle Park (1971) 43: At the moment, like Sammy, he had only a chippy, and got most of the heroin he needed by hanging around other addicts who occasionally turned him on with a taste, gave him a weak shot from their own supply.
1968		L.Wolf Voices from the Love Generation 102: This friend of mine turned me on to marijuana.
1976		R. Sabbag Snowblind (1978) 37: How many people do you figure you’ve turned on since then?
1981		D.E. Miller Bk of Jargon 344: turn on: [...] 2. To give some of a drug to another user as a gift. 3. To supply someone with a first drug experience, as applied to a particular drug he or she has never used, or to the first experience of drugs in general. 4. To give someone marijuana or LSD.
1994		Rebennack & Rummel Under A Hoodoo Moon 31: I had a lot of junko partners, but Shank was the cat who turned me on to drugs.
2003		T. Dorsey Stingray Shuffle 45: You say you never got high [...] until Lenny turned you on [...]?
2010		K. Richards Life 388: You don’t turn other people on; you keep it to yourself.

7. (orig. US) to introduce someone or something (non-drugs) to someone.

1958		M.A. Crane ‘Miscellany’ in AS XXXIII:3 225: When he turns him on he supplies him with something — a smoke, a drink, or just a bit of information.
1967		M.S. Brookins ‘Aspiration’ in Kochman Rappin’ and Stylin’ Out (1972) 381: Big Time would score for you, or turn you on to someone in the position to do so.
1969		Gandalf’s Garden 6 n.d. 11: turn you on: to make you see, to get you to understand, to free your head of the impositions of the mis-education system. Or to create enjoyment within one.
1981		J. Ellroy Brown’s Requiem 157: He had turned her on to sex, which she loved [...] and to drugs, which she hated.
1993		I. Welsh Trainspotting 340: Gilbert could have turned him on to some real money.
1999		W.D. Myers Monster 52: So he turned me on to 2 cartons [of cigarettes] for 5 dollars each.
2002		D.H. Sterry Chicken (2003) 29: Frannie popped my professional cherry. She was my first sex job, and she turned me on to a lot of work.
2019		in Conforth & Wardlow Up Jumped the Devil 245: Robert was invited to play the man’s electric guitar. The musician saw Robert and Shines carrying acoustic guitars and wanted to turn them on to the latest technology.

8. (orig. US) to stimulate, usu. sexually, to appeal to someone.

1963		C. Wood ‘Prisoner and Escort’ in Cockade (1965) I ii: Turn me on – you toe rag. You beautiful little toe rag. Here – now stand on your head and whistle ‘God save the Queen’!
1965		Wisconsin State Jrnl 17 Jan. 1-2: The coeds might describe the handsome guy as a ‘mass gasser,’ or a guy ‘who turns me on.’.
1972		G.V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle 145: You think I care what turns a guy on.
1988		Viz Oct.–Nov. 15: Or if fish turns her on, why not buy a couple.
1999		N. Cohn Yes We Have No 300: Yes, it turned me on at times.
2001		N. Griffiths Sheepshagger 232: Luring me up here . . . turning me on . . . how fucking dare you reject me.
2012		C. Stella Rough Riders 14: I get off when she lies to me [...] If you want to know the truth, it’s what turns me on.
2021		L. McInerney Rules of Revelation 138: ‘Does it turn you on or something?’ ‘Does what turn me on?’ ‘What I fucking told you’.

9. (orig. US) to become stimulated.

1969		Current Sl. III:4 10: Turn on, v. To become enlivened, usually for a short period of time.
1972		Eble Campus Sl. Oct. 6: turnon [...] to become interested or excited by something.
1988		P. Califia Macho Sluts 29: I just turn on to aggressive and strong women.
2000		Guardian Rev. 25 Feb. 6: I love any time you can enlighten people to mistakes, that’s how I started my career. It definitely turned me on.

10. (US) to drink liquor.

1972

D. Jenkins Semi-Tough 281: I’d like for you to tell all those watching and listening whether you think it’s right to drink whisky or, as they say, to turn on.