turn of phrase
English
editEtymology
editCompare trope, with same sense of “turn” to mean indirect language.
Pronunciation
editAudio (General Australian): (file)
Noun
editturn 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
editTranslations
editexpression which is worded in a distinctive way
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See also
editFurther reading
edit- “turn of phrase”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.