And following Quizmonster's question, here's another one ........

[naomi24]

Why do people say, "I turned around and said", or "he turned around and said". Do people really 'turn around' and say? Do you? I don't, unless the person I'm aiming to talk to is behind me when I want to talk to them. :o)

[Quizmonster]

Here's a quote, Naomi, from an edition of the Listener published in August 1969...
"Before my parents could turn round and ask what I was going to do for a living, I went back and answered that I'd already got a job as a ship's musician."
I don't believe this involved an actual physical turning-round either, so at least we can say the idea has been about for 40 years or so. It doesn't explain why people say it, but it shows they've been saying it for some time! I suppose it just indicates that there is a 'flow' involved, like a record turning, as it were.

[naomi24]

Thanks Quizmonster. I can't imagine why people say it, but when they do, it always makes me laugh.

[4GS]

Me too naomi
one that makes me smile is when people say' there has been a bad accident'
really? has there ever been a good accident?

[smartowl]

My dad used to give me a good hiding!

[sophie_1003]

a good accident is when you dont get very hurt but still get lots of sympathy and get well presents!

[bednobs]

and nice nurses

[naomi24]

4GS - exactly! And my pet hate is 'would of' or 'could of', or 'might of' instead of 'have'.

Smartowl, don't suppose you thought it was good, did you?

[rojash]

What about the accidental discovery of penicillin - wasn't that a good accident?

[osprey88]

To turn around and answer is just an interesting turn of phrase.

[naomi24]

Rojash, an interesting thought, but perhaps the discovery of penicillin should be attributed to serendipity rather than to an accident.

Very good Osprey. :o)

[rojash]

Well according to the free dictionary.com the word accident does not necessarily indicate something undesirable (see definition (b) together with its example):

a. An unexpected and undesirable event, especially one resulting in damage or harm: car accidents on icy roads.
b. An unforeseen incident: A series of happy accidents led to his promotion.

[jno]

there's the phrase 'happy accident', so an accident is just something that happens unexpectedly

[jno]

oh... as rojash has just said... sorry

[Thicko2006]

QM, I believe this annoying phrase has been around for a lot longer than 40 years. I remember an old chap I worked at least 45 years ago used to 'turn round and say' so many times during a conversation that I felt dizzy.
He was nearing retirement age and I had the impression he had been spinning for a long while, so I think this silly phrase has been around for a long while.

[naomi24]

rojash and jno, yes, that's true.

[Quizmonster]

You could well be right, Thicko, but the illustration I offered earlier is the furthest back the phrase has so far been traced.
I don't know whether you saw Victoria Coren's TV series Balderdash & Piffle, but that was all about finding earlier examples of words/phrases than the scholars at The Oxford English Dictionary had been able to find. If you can produce suitable evidence, I'm sure the dictionary's editors would be delighted to see it. Good luck!

[chakka35]

Good heavens! This 'turn round and..' business has been going on ever since I can remember far back into my Liverpool childhood - and that's a lot longer than 45 years ago!
But I suppose we need written evidence, don't we? I'll have a go.

[naomi24]

Good evening Chakka, I didn't know you were from Liverpool. Well, we live and learn - and I look forward to learning the outcome of your research.

[smorodina]

A very similar phrase appears in the lyrics to 'She' from the Monkees second album:

(She!) She told me that she loved me,
And like a fool I believed her from the start
(She!) She said she'd never hurt me,
But then she turned around and broke my heart.

This was released in early January 1967 so the song must have been written in 1966 at the latest.