When was turn of the century

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Words nearby turn of the century turnkey , turnkey project , turnkey system , turnoff , turn of phrase , turn of the century , turn of the tide , turnon , turn one's back on , turn one's hand to , turn one's head. How to use turn of the century in a sentence For more than a century, Americans have been fretting about these sorts of ghosts.

The Philippine Islands John Foreman. The turn of the century can refer to any century at all. I mean Not exactly an empirical survey but this use at the BBC website and this one from Encyclopedia Britannica search 'turn of' in the article supports Wikipedia's statement on UK usage. I suppose a really good answer would include a look at google ngrams for UK literature as opposed to US literature and would include the researcher examining each individual use for the actual context.

Those of us born in the middle of the 20th century learned two phrases from our predominently 20th century parents. These were: "The turn of the century" which was, roughly, the period ftom to and "The turn of the last century" which was, roughly, the period from to Updating those means that "The turn of the century" becomes the period from to and "The turn of the last century" becomes to This usage suggests to me that "The turn of the nth century" refers to the end of the n-1th century and the beginning of nth.

Does anyone doubt that n-th century is the same in British and American English? Therefore, how could turn of the n-th century differ? Also, we have turn of the page, turn ing of the corner, and turn of the screw which is not only a book but a different case. Add a comment. Both The turn of a new century refers to the end and beginning of the new century. Voldemort's Wrath Voldemort's Wrath 8 8 bronze badges. So is at the turn of the nineteenth century, or the turn of the twentieth century?

Or are you saying you could use either expression and still be right? AndrewLeach The turn of the century signifies the end of one and the beginning of another. You would generally just say "It's the turn of the century.

Readers and writers have to already know which century it is. It can be any century. Even to For instance. AndrewLeach, in the UK I have rarely if ever heard the phrase used to specify which two centuries are being turned between - it is usually used unqualified, with the century in question being implicit from context.

If someone said "at the turn of the 20th century", I would interpret that to mean or around , but again context would likely be key. I would consider it confusing and wrong to hear described as "the turn of the 20th century. Steve Exactly the point of my questioning comment. Generally speaking, the turn of the century refers to any century where the turn is occurring. Context will tell which century it is. Here's Wikipedia, see the first part only for my answer: turn of the century For me, the turn means the moment it changes INTO the century that follows.

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