Dictionary

turning joint en · NOUN

Etymology

From turning + joint. First use appears c. 1895.

Meanings

1. (US, dated, obsolete) A place where legitimately earned money was swindled in exchange for counterfeit currency.
   • ... those who returned and made their way to the turning joint, in order to right matters themselves, were quickly taken care of by "tailers" 1957, Morris Robert Werner, It Happened in New York, page 74:
   • The victim is usually taken first to some saloon in the vicinity of the "turning joint," where he is given over to another crook, the "turner," who lies in wait for him. 1895, Thomas Byrnes, Professional Criminals of America, page 33:
   • There they were met by a "bunco steerer" like Appo who, after an exchange of passwords, "steered" the individual to a "turning joint" in another hotel or office. 2011, Timothy J. Gilfoyle, A Pickpocket's Tale: The Underworld of Nineteenth-Century New York, page 209:
   • He's got a come-on from New Jersey that I'm to steer to the turning joint. 1897, Edward W. Townsend, Near A Whole City Full, page 164:
   • ... and brought to a place where the scheme is to be operated and which is known as the "turning joint". 1928, Frank Dalton O'Sullivan, Crime Detection, page 170:
   • At the turning joint, the over-the-counter salesman, or "turner," did all the talking, showed the victim the $5,000 to $10,000 in good money described as counterfeit, and sold it to him on a discounted basis (as an example, $500 bought $5,000). 2022, John Oller, Rogues' Gallery - The Birth of Modern Policing and Organized Crime in Gilded Age New York, page 189:

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