page turner
- noun
- Specialized
:
pasa páginas
- The orchestra relied on a skilled page turner to ensure the conductor had uninterrupted access to the score.
Examples
-
Jim will be playing, one of eight pianists on the program, and I'm his official page turner.
Blog text (7) -
As the pianist performed, his official page turner quickly flipped to the next page of music.
-
During the concert, the page turner helped the musician by smoothly turning the pages without missing a beat.
Surface Forms
Morphology
page + turner
The meaning is directly compositional: 'page' (a sheet) plus 'turner' (one that turns) yields an agent or device that turns pages. Even if 'turner' isn't listed, a B1 learner who knows 'turn' and the agentive -er pattern can infer the mechanical/device sense, so the expression is transparent.
Etymology
The noun page turner comes from a simple picture: a turner that flips a page, like an early small tool with a moving arm used to flip sheet music or a book for a musician or a reader. That's why page turner now means 'a machine that automatically turns the pages'.
