turn of phrase
English edit
Etymology edit
Compare trope, with same sense of “turn” to mean indirect language.
Pronunciation edit
Audio (AU) (file)
Noun edit
turn of phrase (countable and uncountable, plural turns of phrase)
- (countable) An expression which is worded in a distinctive way, especially one which is particularly memorable or artful.
- 1922, Dorothy Canfield, “Chapter 43”, in Rough-Hewn:
- "I should call it a most nice sort of surprise," remarked the girl with a quaintly un-English turn of phrase which he had already noticed and thought the most delightful thing in the world.
- (uncountable) A distinctive way of wording things, a distinctive way of writing or speaking.
Related terms edit
Translations edit
expression which is worded in a distinctive way
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See also edit
Further reading edit
- “turn of phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.