turn up for the book en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- (Australia) audio
Etymology
Originally from racecourse betting, from turn up (“stroke of luck”) and book (“record of betting; bookmaker”).
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) A very unexpected, usually pleasant, surprise.
Her mother kept well away from us, which was a turn up for the book, and for the time being at any rate, I was a model husband.
1987, Edward Dryhurst, Gilt Off the Gingerbread, →OCLC:What a turn up for the book. After 12 successive league wins[…]Charlton were nobbled by the First Division's no-hopers, who profited from a goalkeeping bloomer then held on to their lead for dear life.
2000 March 12, Stuart Barnes, “Swindon stunner for Curbishley”, in The Guardian, →ISSN:'Well, boyo, this is a turn up for the book,' observed my friend David Llewellyn without a trace of irony. 'I never expected to wind up in a hospital bed next to you.'π
2013, David Stuart Davies, A Taste for Blood, →ISBN:All these turn ups for the book had lasting consequences.
2011, Michael Frayn, My Father's Fortune: A Life, →ISBN, page 104:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| turn ups for the book | Number=Plur | rare | lexicographic |
| turn-up for the book | alternative | lexicographic | |
| turn-up for the books | alternative | lexicographic | |
| turn up for the books | alternative | lexicographic |
Deriveds
Translations (5)
fr agréable surprise (unexpected surprise) · pl niespodzianka (unexpected surprise) · fi jymy-yllätys (unexpected surprise) · cs gól (unexpected surprise) · fr bonne surprise (unexpected surprise)