Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. (also turn it off) to stop doing something.

1812		Vaux Vocab. of the Flash Lang.
1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 332: Your friend must have drove a lively trade [...] to turn it up for eighteenpence a-week.
1880		W. Hooe Sharping London 36: Turn It Up, to cease the attempt.
1889		Dead Bird (Sydney) 30 Nov. 4/1: Oh, turn it up. You're not paid to waste space. What is it you're drivelling about?
1895		Truth (Sydney) 5 May 6/4: Two [...] Sydney bookmakers had a fight some years ago, and one of them had had enough of it [and] wanted to turn it up.
1899		C. Rook Hooligan Nights 122: Why not turn it up and live an honest life?
1912		Sun. Times (Perth, Aus.) 25 Feb. 14/2: Instead of ‘Quit it’ they [i.e. Australians] say ‘turn it up’.
1929		C.G. Gordon Crooks of the Und. 150: I mentally resolved that if ever I did feel that the spirit moved me to ‘turn it up,’ I would never encourage it to take effect.
1937		E. Raymond Marsh 228: Turn it off! Don’t start getting polite.
1941		G. Kersh They Die with Their Boots Clean 145: Turn it up [...] This sort of thing bores me.
1955		B. Hill Boss of Britain’s Underworld 93: I shouted to Taffy to stop. ‘Let’s turn it up,’ I said.
1962		B. Behan Brendan Behan’s Island (1984) 75: With his hands trembling, said to His Lord: ‘Cor blimey, guv’nor, turn it up. I ain’t goin’ to knock you.’.
1974		J. McNeill How Does Your Garden Grow 75: [text missing].
1985		R.G. Barrett You Wouldn’t Be Dead for Quids (1989) 13: The rest of the Easts forwards didn’t fancy having to do a bit of work [...] so they turned it up and the team lost.
1991		R.G. Barrett Between the Devlin 110: ‘Turn it up, Billy’.
2005		M.B. ‘Chopper’ Read Chopper 4 66: Harry the Greek calls for order. ‘Turn it up, turn it up,’ he cries.

2. (Aus.) in ext. use, to die.

1905		Bulletin (Sydney) 10 Aug. 36/2: He likes to think of death as a white angel, quiet and peaceful; but when he counts the crescendos that Hog Mullins arrives at before turning it up he feels that death is only a barnyard opera.
1915		Bulletin (Sydney) 22 July 24/3: Then milkers, after getting a blow-out on the freshly-sprouted fodder, turned it up. Greed fodder eaten wet spells disaster to drought-starved cattle.