turn, v.¹ — Green’s Dictionary of Slang

turn v.¹

1. to deceive or rob [? SE turn against/on].

16(?)		Song of the Seventeenth Century quoted in Nares Gloss. (Halliwell and Wright) n.p.: The twelfth a trapan, if a cull he doth meet, He naps all his cole, and turns him i’ the street [F&H].
1753		J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) 42: I turn and pinch Slats and half Slats; ask Change for Crowns and Half Crowns.
1857		‘Ducange Anglicus’ Vulgar Tongue 26: A woman. ‘This old pot, we will turn her.’ We will pick this woman’s pocket. Th.
1894		‘Sl. of the Circus Man’ in Boston Daily Globe 17 Dec. 35: If a countryman went into a side show and was robbed of $10 there, a circus man would say: ‘The Rube went against the grafter in the kid top and got turned for 10 cases.’.
1895		Truth (Sydney) 17 Feb. 3/4: Otherwise there ain’t no show, / But to go and turn a parson.

2. US Und. uses [SE turn round].

(a) to betray to the authorities.

1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 289: Van Tromp ’ll have to turn himself up if he turns Stephen; he stole the boy and he’s the most to blame.
1950		Goldin et al. DAUL 228/2: Turn. 1. To turn traitor to the underworld and its code of criminal ethics; to betray one’s criminal associates.
1967		M. Braly On the Yard (2002) 161: If a snitch gets close enough to turn you, that’s still your goof.
1988		W.D. Myers Scorpions 41: Willie the one done turned him. They got Willie on possession, and then he tried to cop him a plea by turning Randy and me.
2003		C. Stella Charlie Opera 37: What makes you think he might have turned? [...] What makes you think your friend may have flipped?
2023		Rayman & Blau Riker’s 314: Some of them [i.e. corrupt police] turned or snitched.

(b) of a police officer, spy, etc., to become corrupt, to change sides.

1958		E. Gilbert Vice Trap 34: ‘But I cant figure what’s turned him.’ ‘He’s not satisfied with his job.’.
2001		G. Pelecanos Right As Rain 287: How’d you turn, Gene?
2023		M. Herron Secret Hours 199: ‘Turned’ was when you stopped being whoever you were and started being someone else, unless it was when you stopped pretending to be someone else, and went back to being who you were.

(c) (also turn around) to persuade a villain (incl. a corrupt policeman) to give evidence against, or spy on, fellow criminals.

1972		Knapp Commission Report Dec. 217: In that investigation, a corrupt situation was allowed to continue [...] so that as many participants as possible could be identified. Corrupt policemen were ‘turned’ and kept on the job as investigators.
1974		Coward et al. Psychologist With a Gun 128: ‘[I]t is amazingly easy to turn these guys once they see they have a chance of saving their pension and avoiding the full weight of criminal prosecution’.
1987		M. McAlary Buddy Boys 28: ‘They turned a mutt drug dealer to get us. They got me and Benny talking and they got Benny giving me money’.
1994		Mollen Report exhibit 8 9: [A]ttempting to turn Yurkiw or any of his accomplices [...] was not an investigative tactic ever attempted by IAD.
2001		J. Stahl Plainclothes Naked (2002) 14: All detectives had their specialty — reading the scene, turning snitches, following leads.
2012		L. Berney Whiplash River [ebook] ‘They still might try to clip him, just to be safe, if they thought she was trying to turn him around’.

(d) to give state’s evidence; thus turning n.

1977		E. Torres Q&A 201: ‘He’s turned around [...] Gonna piss on everybody’s head to save his ass’.
1985		N. Pileggi Wiseguy (2001) 217: We had federal agents talking to him about turning.
1992		R. Price Clockers 11: If Peanut ever got caught, he might turn.
2001		N. Barlay Hooky Gear 27: Source be in some associated nominal the muffs can turn. Source equal grass.
2001		C. Stella Eddie’s World 37: Turning was easy for Singleton. Survivors don’t question the means to an end.

3. to distract someone’s attention [they are turned away] .

1977

E. Bunker Animal Factory 189: The guard was ‘turned’ or not turned.

4. (US black) vt., of a gay man, to lure a heterosexual young man into the homosexual life.

1978

W.D. Myers It Ain’t All for Nothin 118: ‘A lot of faggots figure they can turn you before your manhood gets set, then you messed up for life’.

5. (US black) to murder.

2008

Simon & Burns ‘Transitions’ Wire ser. 5 ep. 4 [TV script] If Joe turned Butchie, I’ll tell you. I ll help you even.

6. see turn a trick v.¹ (1)

7. see turn a trick v.² (2)

8. see turn on v. (5)

In derivatives

turner (n.)

(UK Und.) one who cheats shopkeepers by manipulating the change for a purchase or a larger coin.

1753

J. Poulter Discoveries (1774) 30: The Turners and Pinchers; that is, those getting Change for Money, and keeping some.

In phrases

turn around (v.)

1. (US) to change someone’s attitude or behaviour, esp. to persuade a criminal to turn informer; also to disorientate.

[1877		S. James Vagabond Papers (3rd Ser.) 138: I didn’t think, sir, that you were the man to ask me to become a — dog, and turn round on a pal].
1963		M. Braly Shake Him Till He Rattles (1964) 117: Those pills of yours turned me all around.
1972		G.V. Higgins Friends of Eddie Coyle 26-7: Dolan and Morrissey [...] were trying to get Artie Van turned around when he was up at the farm there.
1977		B. Davidson Collura (1978) 95: A young blond hustler named Billy had been arrested for cocaine sales and ‘turned around’ by a detective team.
1987		W.D. Myers Crystal 30: ‘You just keep on living like you know you supposed to. Don’t let nobody turn you around, girl’.
1993		G.P. Pelecanos Nick’s Trip 13: [of a lesbian] Occasionally she’d poke her head in the Spot [...] and invariably one of my regulars would boast that he could ‘turn one of those “rug munchers” around’ if he had the chance.

2. of a criminal, to turn informer.

1987

M. McAlary Buddy Boys 237: ‘They caught you red-handed. And because of that, now you’re turning around’.

SE in slang uses

In compounds

turn-tongue (adj.)

(W.I.) duplicitous, hypocritical, lying.

1996

Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage.

In phrases

don’t turn that side to London [the idea that only the best is good enough for display in the metropolis]

a phr. used to condemn whatever object is under discussion.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 115/1: Don’t turn that side to London (Peoples’). Condemnation of any kind – of a patched coat or boots, the worst side of a joint of meat, some injury to the body, etc., etc. From the supposition that everything of the best is required in the metropolis.

turn... (v.)

see also under relevant n. or adj.

turn a date (v.)

see turn a trick v.² (2)

turn and wind the penny (v.)

to spend one’s money judiciously.

c.1698

B.E. Dict. Canting Crew n.p.: To turn and winde the Penny, to make to [sic] most of one’s Money, or Lay it out at the best Advantage.

turn a trick (v.)

see separate entries.

turn every which way but loose (v.)

see cut every way but loose under cut v.²

turn funny (v.)

see get funny with under funny adj.²

turn into fish food (v.)

to drown.

1999

‘New Book Rev. of “Throwing 7’s”’ at GamblingMagazine.com 🌐 Or, in ‘street-smart’ lingo, buy the farm, check out, get whacked, turn into fish food – you get the idea.

turn it down (v.) (also turn it off) [fig. use of SE, underlined post-1920s by by radio/TV imagery]

1. (Aus./US) to be quiet.

1913		Sport (Adelaide) 26 July 10/3: Turn it down, Margery, you’re not single now.
1929		D. Hammett Dain Curse 198: He stammered: ‘I didn’t--didn’t mean so they’ll hang anybody really. [. . . .] But couldn’t it be fixed for him to get away?’ [...] ‘Turn it off," I growled. ‘You’re wasting our time’ .
1932		W.R. Burnett Giant Swing 138: ‘Just to help me! [...] You get paid, don’t you? Damn good money. More than you’re worth...’ ‘Aw, turn it off’ .

2. (gay) to moderate one’s more flagrantly homosexual behaviour.

1971		F. Hilaire Thanatos 200: ‘Turn it off!’ Leslie jumped in front of him, glaring.
2002		B. Archman ‘Mr Andrews’ on Nifty Erotic Stories Archive 🌐 He lifted me out of the water, sat me on the side of the pool and sucked my cock. I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Billy was sucking Andy. Woody came up for air. ‘Do you pop easily?’ he asked. ‘I’m afraid I will.’ ‘Let’s all turn it down a bit down and go somewhere comfortable,’ Andy said.

turn one’s crank (v.)

of something, to give a person pleasure.

1975

G. Underwood ‘Razorback Sl.’ in AS L:1/2 68: Today I’m going to do whatever turns my crank.

turn one’s damper down (v.) [SE damper, a device to slow down machinery, lower the heat in fires etc.]

1. (US black) to calm down, to relax; esp. as imper. turn your damper down!

1926		Van Vechten Nigger Heaven 247: A yellow girl [...] stood facing another woman seated with two men. Ah’ll turn yo’ damper down! she screamed. Ah’ll cut you every way but loose! the other retorted.
1931		Blanche Calloway ‘Just a Crazy Song’ 🎵 Now, I get so hot and bothered when / You start foolin’ ’round; / Oh, can’t you see the fix I’m in? / Gotta turn my damper down.

2. (US black) to satisfy sexually, also fig. use.

1920		Lasses White ‘Sweet Mama Tree Top Tall; Won’t You Kindly Turn Your Damper Down’ [song title].
1928		R. Fisher Walls Of Jericho 181: Here this red hot papa, Joshua, who’s never had his damper turned down yet.
1937		Jimmie Davis ‘I Think I’ll Turn Your Damper Down’ [song title] .
1956		Jerry Irby & The Texas Ranchers ‘Forty Nine Women’ 🎵 With a blonde-headed woman you need to get around, / But a black haired girl will turn your damper down.

turn on one’s lights (v.)

to start thinking, to act sensibly.

1990

S. Morgan Homeboy 10: Turn on your front porch lights, whore.

turn on the fan (v.) [fan v.² (1)]

(US) to hurry, to move quickly.

1935

A.J. Pollock Und. Speaks n.p.: Turned on the fan, escaped from prison or the police.

turn on the ice (v.)

see give someone the ice under ice n.¹

turn on the (tear) tap(s) (v.) (also turn the tap(s) on) [the implication is of a lack of sincerity]

to start crying; thus turn off the tap v., to stop crying.

1883		Daily Tel. 8 Feb. in Ware (1909) 251/2: ‘You noticed, perhaps’, said my companion, ‘that when she had finished her song she fell a crying? That’s what she’s strong in. She can turn the taps on at a moment’s notice, and that in a way you’d never think was any other than natural.’.
1922		Joyce Ulysses 718: If he doesnt correct her faith I will that was the last time she turned on the teartap I was just like that myself.
1934		H. Roth Call It Sleep (1977) 413: Toin off de tap, Mary, f’Gawd’s sake!
1936		(con. 1830s–60s) ‘Miles Franklin’ All That Swagger 7: ‘Sure, she was crying all night.’ ‘Women can turn the taps on for annything.’.
1950		C. Harris Three-Ha’Pence to the Angel 149: Well, blimey, we can all start turning the taps on.
1951		D. Stivens Jimmy Brockett 178: I gave her the length of my tongue and she kept squealing, saying she was sorry, and turning on the tap.
1961		R.A. Norton Through Beatnik Eyeballs 18: Babywise she turn on them tear-taps often.
1962		R. Cook Crust on its Uppers 83: Lady Chrism turning the taps on.
1970		H.E. Bates A Little of What You Fancy (1985) 548: Can’t have this. Can’t have you turning the tap on.
1981		(con. c.1900) A. Harding in Samuel East End Und. 47: All they had to do was see someone well-dressed coming along and they’d turn the tap on: ‘I’ve had nothing to eat all day.’ The bloke would give them a tanner to get rid of ’em.

turn on the toe (v.) [a ladder was employed before the early 19C development of the drop]

to push (the victim) off the ladder at the climax of a judicial hanging.

1594

Nashe Unfortunate Traveller in Works V (1883–4) 36: He for his treacherie was turnd on the toe.

turn out a set (v.)

see under turn out v.³

turn someone’s mouth behind their back (v.) [to ‘knock someone’s face through the back of their neck’]

(W.I.) to beat one up severely.

1975

cited in Allsopp Dict. Carib. Eng. Usage (1996).

turn state (v.) (also …state’s (evidence)) [abbr.]

(US Und.) to give state’s evidence.

1900		Flynt & Walton Powers That Prey 142: A gun that works by himself can never turn state’s evidence.
1911		G. Bronson-Howard Enemy to Society 289: You’re the kind that turns state’s evidence, ain’t you?
1929		W.R. Burnett Little Caesar (1932) 129: Didn’t Humpy get soft on Red Gus and turn State’s?
1949		W.R. Burnett Asphalt Jungle in Four Novels (1984) 247: You turn state’s — and maybe we can rig up a suspended sentence.
1952		Lait & Mortimer USA Confidential 241: Jones, who promised to turn state’s evidence, suddenly clammed up.
1992		Bentley & Corbett Prison Sl. 24: When a person testifies in court for the prosecution against a friend or ‘crime partner,’ it is referred to as turning state.

turn the best side to London (v.)

to make the best of any given situation.

1909

J. Ware Passing Eng. of the Victorian Era 251/2: Turn the best side to London (Peoples’). Shrewd way of recommending the hearer to make the best of everything.

turn the corner of Bolt Street (v.) [play on bolt v. (1)]

to escape, to run off.

1902

H. Baumann Londinismen (2nd edn).

turn the house out of the windows (v.)

see throw the house out of the windows under house n.¹

turn the key on (v.)

(UK Und.) to give a life sentence.

1939

V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 9: Do yez tink dey will turn da key on yez, Chief?

turn them over, they’re done on this side

see stick a fork in them, they’re done under stick v.

turn the shit out (v.)

see turn out a set under turn out v.³

turn the tables (v.) [SE turn the tables, to reverse the relations between two parties]

(gay) of a male homosexual prostitute, to blackmail a client.

1941		G. Legman ‘Lang. of Homosexuality’ Appendix VII in Henry Sex Variants.
1965		Guild Dict. Homosexual Terms 46: turn the tables (v.): To blackmail a heterosexual male client who has perhaps been ‘holding’ his homosexual partner by methods other than pleasant; however, this is a practice that has become almost obsolete in the U.S.A.

turn the tap(s) on (v.)

see turn on the (tear) tap(s)

turn the trick (v.)

1. see turn a trick v.¹

2. see turn a trick v.² (1)

turn to custard (v.)

(N.Z.) to malfunction, go wrong.

2003

McGill Reed Dict. of N.Z. Sl.

turn tricks (v.)

1. see turn a trick v.² (2)

2. see turn a trick v.² (3)

In exclamations

turn blue!

a euph. version of fuck off! excl. (1)

1952		M. Millar Vanish in an Instant (2016) 58: ‘Now get out of here [...] Turn blue, just turn blue’.
1953		R. Chandler Long Good-Bye 251: Beat it ! Turn blue. You want a knife in the belly?

turn v.1

In derivatives

In phrases

SE in slang uses

In compounds

In phrases

In exclamations

turn v.¹