to turn the tables
20
3.9
- idiom
:
cambiar las tornas
- After weeks of planning, she finally managed to turn the tables on her opponent and win the debate.
He will completely turn the tables on you.
- He will completely turn the tables on you.
- And Trump seized the moment in that interview with Stephanopouli to turn the tables on Hillary Clinton.
- So they'll they'll find ways to turn the tables on you.
- In one quick second they are able to turn the tables from someone actually being really angry with them or upset about them to someone trying to appease them.
- But when a man can make a woman wait for it, this turns the tables significantly.
Examples
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Beatrice has her way, turning the tables on Hector.
Fiction book (1993) -
He will completely turn the tables on you.
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Gave me time, so I could turn the tables on him.
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I had one chance to turn the tables.
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It's about time we turned the tables!
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Maybe it's time to turn the tables.
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What if they should turn the tables on you, sir?
-
Instead, I learned to cook and turned the tables by cooking for my mother.
Fiction book (1997) -
Carter's just turned the tables in his favor.
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But now we as Americans have been able to, well, turn the tables a little bit against corporate greed.
Synonyms
4
7.0
To gain an advantage over someone by using clever or unexpected actions
1
6.1
To have an advantage over someone in competition
How Advantageous
Surface Forms
Morphology
turn + the + tables
The components 'turn' (change/rotate) and 'tables' (furniture) give a plausible image of reversing or changing an arrangement, so learners can get a clue that something is being reversed. However, the specific pragmatic sense 'reverse a situation to gain an advantage' is an extended metaphor tied to idiomatic usage and is not fully predictable from the literal parts; cross-linguistic realizations vary, so a B1 learner who only knows the words might not reliably infer the exact meaning.
Etymology
The phrase turn the tables may come from an old board game called 'tables'. If you turn the tables you flip the board and change who is winning, so today it means 'to change a situation so you have the advantage'.